From America to Konoha
by XxEmo-Scissor-PiexX
Summary: When American teenager Nikki Samson wakes up in Konohagakure and comes face to face with characters from her favorite TV show, her whole world is turned upside down. And when she meets Naruto, things get even more complicated. NarutoxOC. T for language.
1. The Evil Powers of the Twig of Doom!

**DISCLAIMER:** No, I don't own Naruto. Which totally sucks ass, by the way. -runs away and cries-

BRING!! BRING!! BRING!! BRING!!

The cry of the sirens woke me quickly, blaring in my ear. "Ah!! I'm up; I'm up!! Stupid alarm clock…" I muttered and threw the clock across the room. It slammed into the wall and broke into a million pieces. "Oops…" I sighed. I had to stop doing that…

"Nikki, what was that??" my mother, Michaela Alice Samson, yelled from downstairs.

"Nothing!! I called back down. Then I forced myself to drag my lazy butt out of the bed. At least it was the weekend. Wait a sec… then why was my alarm clock on? Oh yeah, my Tae-Kwon-Doe promotion… I turned to look to see what time it was but remembered; my clock was laying on the floor, across the room, _in a million pieces!! _Yeah, I've really got to learn to use the snooze button. But there's no fun in that now is there?

_But at least you would still have a clock._

That was my inner voice rearing her ugly head. She had a good point though… However, I had to say that it was much more fun to wreck stuff. So I had to run downstairs, look at the clock, realize that in 10 minutes my friends were coming by, run back upstairs, throw on some _clean _clothes, which was really hard to do since they were all buried under the blob of dirty clothes that I hadn't bothered to bring down, run back downstairs to get the door for my friends that had just arrived, then realize that I left my wallet upstairs, run up yet another flight of stairs, grab it, and run backdownstairs again, then realize that my friends were here. My life is a joyride, is it not? Ha!!

Maybe I should explain myself a little better. My name is Nikki Elizabeth Samson and I'm thirteen years old. I have long black hair that I haven't cut since I was five. My eyes are bright green, and I wear contacts. I love Tae-Kwon-Doe, long, hot showers, and walks on the beach. If you want to hear more about me, call 1-866-293-NIKKI. I'll be waiting!!

"Hey Nick!! You ready to go?" my boyfriend, Jason, asked me.

I frowned. "Ugh, would you please stop calling me that? It's Nikki. Not Nick, it's Nikki. I'm a _girl. _Nick is a _boy's _name. Can you say Nikki, or do I have to break it down. Nik-ki!! See, easy, right?"

Jason grinned. "Whatever you say… Nick."

I stuck my tongue out and him and smiled. "Fine… but only you." I turned to the others. "You got that? Only Jason can call me that. You guys try anything and you'll end up in the emergency room."

Kit rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Just because you're gonna be a black belt doesn't mean you can hurt me."

"Oh yeah? And how you gonna stop me?" I smirked.

Kit looked around and scooped something off the ground. It was a stick. "With the evil powers of the almighty twig of doom!!" she giggled.

I joined in and pretty soon, we were both on the ground laughing.

Jake, one of my other peeps and who also took Tae-Kwon-Doe, and who had just climbed out of the car, looked at us like we were nuts. "You guys okay?"

"Have they ever been?" Jason said and rolled his eyes.

"True…" Jake agreed.

I stood back up and dusted myself off. I walked over to Jason and laughed, leaning over to kiss Jason softly on the lips, though for the hundredth time this year he turned away, then glanced at his watch as if nothing had happened. "Come on Nick, if we waste any more time we'll be late for your promotion."

I frowned, disappointed. I mean, he _was_ my boyfriend. I should be able to kiss him... He could be so stubborn sometimes. I'd actually never been kissed. That's right. Me, Nikki Samson, had never been kissed before!!

Today was the day I get my black belt, so I wouldn't miss it in the world. And I defiantly wouldn't get all bummed out over a kiss! Not today, anyway... I hopped into the front passenger seat of the truck, shoving whoever's stuff was lying on the seat out of the way. "I call shotgun!!" I exclaimed.

"Nick, will you ever learn to grow up?" Jason kidded me.

I shook my head no and grinned. "Nope!!"

"Oh, Nikki, before I forget, this great new restaurant just opened up and my cousin got a job there. He asked me to come on opening night, tonight, and said I could bring anyone I wanted." Jason told me.

"Don't worry!! I'm sure my neighbor would love to!! I'll ask her when I get home." I joked.

"I meant you, stupid!!" he laughed.

"Really?! I'd love to!!" I exclaimed and kissed him on the nose, which he didn't refuse.

We arrived at the promotion with time to spare; just enough time to get my uniform on. I was so nervous, though, that I couldn't tie my belt. Jason had to help me. After he did, I planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thankies, Jasie!!" I squealed in a little girl voice, then skipped off to the mat.

Jason rolled his eyes.

Then the promotion started. I showed off my pure skill as I kicked some instructor butt and won. Boo ya!! Finally, the promotion was over and I got to receive my black belt. After it was on I did a little celebration dance, which just made Jason roll his eyes again.

"You look so cute when you do that, honey bun!!" I ruffled his hair.

"And you're adorable. You just have to stop calling me that." He told me, getting somewhat annoyed.

"Ya know ya love it, darlin'!!" I grinned again and skipped off to the car, singing "I've got my black belt; I've got my black belt!!" all the way there, just to annoy Jason.

When I got home, I became the serious me again. Or, at least I did for a while…

"Where are my fucking Tarot cards?? I can't find em anywhere!!" I screeched, digging through the _other _big pile of stuff I had. Finally, I found them. They were all the way at the bottom of the pile of junk…

I glared at the cards. "You've really got to stop running away from me, you hear!!" I scolded them. As if they could hear me!! I then shuffled them, clearing my mind. Then, setting them out in four piles and selecting the first card in every pile, I examined what the cards had dealt me. It contained a reversed Wheel Of Fortune, a reversed Chariot, a Page Of Cups, and a reversed IX of Swords.

_ Reversed Wheel Of Fortune Luck isn't on your side right now. Don't get embroiled in anything you'll regret. Stay constructively selfish. This is not a good time to be alone. Ask questions, seek answers, and try options._

_ Reversed Chariot People are more defensive now. Don't give in to intimidation or pressure. No one wants to waste time. Expect last-minute cancellations of plans._

_Page Of Cups Don't get upset if things aren't going as you hoped. Be open to alternatives and prepare for a change of plans. Think before reacting, beware of childish behavior._

_Reversed IX of Swords Confusion and poor decision-making are in the air. Your step falters and progress is delayed. A good time for second thoughts._

"Okay then… stay selfish… I'm good at that!! Okay, probably not going on that date with Jason tonight then… no childish behavior; that sucks, and second thoughts. Got it!! Man, my life is gonna suck today…" I sighed and collected the cards, putting them back in the case and setting them on my dresser then glanced at my watch.

"Oh well!! Time for Naruto!! Yay!!" I said and grabbed the TV remote and switched the channel to Naruto. It was a rerun, one of my fave episodes, when Gaara first starts to fight Rock Lee in the prelims!! I had decided that I was gonna skip the dinner with Jason anyway, besides that's what my Tarot cards said. I'm really serious when it comes to them. Jason understands that.

During the commercial I ran to the kitchen and made some ramen, then brought it back to my room and slurped the noodles one at a time, very slowly, cherishing every bight. I watched Gaara and thought about how he felt. He must feel so alone… it's just so sad to see him like that. I wish I could make him feel better… I wish I could make him feel good… O.o I meant as a friend!! DEFIANTLY not that way!! Ack!! Dirty thoughts!! Bad Nikki!! Bad!! But Gaara is soooooooo hot!! Like, smexy hot!! Very, very smexy!!

I finished my ramen and watched another rerun of Naruto, singing along to the opening theme, Haruka Kanata, cus it's like my most fave song ever!! It was the end of Naruto and Neji's match, and I was cheering for Neji, even though I know Naruto wins. Gotta support the hot guys after all!! Naruto's cute, hell, if I wanted to I could say he was hot, but Neji is just plain sexy!! But Gaara and Kiba are hotter!! Kakashi is fifth, just cus he's cool. Then comes Sasuke. But no one probably cares about my opinion on the hotness of guys from Naruto, even though they should… I know Jason defiantly wouldn't care. But that's his problem… He's just not a fan… Not that there's anything wrong with that, and I respect his feelings, but he's still crazy for not liking the show!! Right, I'll shut up…

After Naruto was over I decided to go to bed early. Kicking that instructor's butt really pooped me out… He was tough to beat, and I didn't have my katana with me!! Darn Tae-Kwon-Doe won't let you use any weapons except for the ones they give you… They suck…

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I also swordfight! It's really just a hobby, and no one teaches me, but I do really well. I'm like a natural at it. I first got interested when my father brought home one, and I started swinging it around a little. I turned out to be really good at it and my father, who used to swordfight himself, would go against me. I always won. Yay me!! But dad is gone now, and it's just my mom and I. But I've gotten used to it, and I still go and visit him. Oh, you thought I meant he's dead? Ha, ha!! No, he lives in Japan, and I go see him every other month for a week. Not very much, but I enjoy every second of it. I mean, it _is_ Japan!! Who wouldn't like it?

I stripped down to my pajamas, which had Naruto all over them because I couldn't find any with Gaara on them, and got into bed, popping in a Naruto DVD into my TV and grabbed the remote. I always had to put Naruto on when I went to bed; otherwise, I would never be able to fall asleep. Yeah, a little weird, but who cares. If it gets me to sleep, then I sure don't!!

I talk in my sleep. A lot. And tonight I dreamt I was getting married to Gaara, so all night I was murmuring, "Gaara, I love you!! Marry me, marry me!! Oh I do!! I DO!! Yes!!"

And, what was really weird, was after that, I dreamt that I had woken up in Konohagakure and Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were leaning over me, looking at me as if I were some freaky alien. Here's what happened then…

I woke up feeling dizzy. Sitting up I saw a boy with spiky blonde hair, a girl with long pink hair, and a boy with dark bluish hair. I squinted and rubbed my eyes, thinking I was still dreaming. But they were still there!!

"Naruto… Sakura… Sasuke…? But… you're not… how…?" I stammered, then hit myself on the head. "Oh, duh!! It's still a dream!! Haha, stupid me!! Anata wa bakamono desu!! I'm stupid!!" I exclaimed.

Sakura looked at me like I was crazy. "Um, are you okay?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yup!! Entirely fine!! Why wouldn't I be, anyway?" I asked.

"Because you just fell out of the sky talking about getting married… and you aren't hurt at all…" she replied, and the two boys nodded in agreement.

I shrugged. "So? I can talk about marrying whomever I wanna, thankies very much!!" I said and stuck my tongue out. "As for falling out of the sky, this is a dream, right? I can do anything I want to!!"

Sasuke shook his head.

"This isn't a dream!!" Naruto exclaimed. "If there was there'd be ramen and I'd be the Hokage by now!! BELIEVE IT!!"

I laughed, half because of how funny Naruto looked when he said that but also because they were acting like a bunch of buffoons. Of course it was a dream!! But usually when I was dreaming they knew that! Man… I'm gonna have to explain everything to them!!

"Okay guys, this is a _dream. _Because in dreams when you hurt yourself it a— doesn't hurt, or b— goes away as soon as you do it. Like so." I said and unsheathed my katana that was hanging loosely across my back. Wait, my katana? I looked down to see that I wasn't in my pajamas anymore, but actually in a midriff red tube-top. Over it I loosely wore an unbuttoned white midriff blouse. And I wore khaki cargos!! Brushing my hair out of my eyes, I squealed in shock. Then something surprised me even more. My hair was blue!! Turquoise blue!! Beside me lay a bag, my katana, and some round red tin case.

"OH. MY. GOD!! WHY THE HELL IS MY HAIR _BLUE_?! AND WHERE ARE MY NARUTO PAJAMAS!! I WANT MY NARUTO-KUN BACK!! WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" But realized what I had just said and blushed, then continued on with my screaming. "WHY DO I HAVE MY KATANA?? IT WAS IN ITS CASE!! HOLY FUDGE, I WANNA EXPLANA-" but I couldn't continue because Sasuke put his hand over my mouth.

"Shut up, you're annoying the hell outta all of us." He told me, and I nodded nervously. Okay, when he glares like that, he can be really freaky!!

_Freakin' hot!!_

Oh shut up, you know I'm all about Gaara… and Neji… and Kiba… and Naruto…

_Well you're in luck. Naruto's right in front of you._

Ya, and I just squealed and said that I wanted my "Naruto-kun" back. He'll be all over me.

_That's the spirit!!_

No, that was sarcasm…

_Same thing._

Fudge off.

_Fine, baka._

You're the baka.

"Okay, so… like I was saying, you don't get hurt in a dream. Watch…" I said and grabbed my katana then made a long cut on the back of my hand then showed them that it didn't hurt.

Or… I tried to. "Ow!! Holy purple bananas, that hurts!! Oh my god, it stings!! Ow, OW, _OW_!! Ouch!!" I exclaimed and blew on it. Licking it like a cat, a little tear ran down my cheek.

Naruto took out some gauze from his pocket and took my injured hand. Looking focused, he wrapped it around my cut. After securing the bandage, he smiled. "There, all better."

I whimpered, but it felt a little better, so I forced a smile. "Guess I should stick to pinching, huh?" I joked.

"Yeah, guess you should!" Naruto grinned that cute cheesy grin of his, which made me feel a lot better.

Suddenly there was a bright light, and I felt a swift breeze hit my face. My hair flew around me and it changed back to its usual black color. My clothes changed back to my Naruto pajamas, and my katana, bag, and tin disappeared. I screamed, and reached out for Naruto's hand. But they were unmoving, and I realized that I was going home from dreamland, or wherever that was. I felt as if I was being ripped apart and everything burned. And suddenly I heard my mother's voice calling out to me. "Nikki, Nikki?! Wake up, Nikki!! It's just a dream!! Wake up!!"

I awoke with a jolt and screamed again. My mother looked at me in relief. "It's okay Nikki, everything's okay. It was just a dream."

She was leaning over me, her face twisted in concern. "Nikki, are you okay?"

I nodded and cried, hugging her tightly. But when I did, I noticed that around my hand was the bandage, glowing a soothing yellow color, the color of Naruto's hair.


	2. Dancing Eggplants and Red Pickup Trucks!

**DISCLAIMER: **No, I don't own Naruto. Which totally sucks ass by the way. -runs away and cries-

"Can't gasp breath!!" I groaned, an elbow in my ribs, a foot in my face, a fist in my stomach, and a hand grabbing my ankle. Bunches of people that I didn't know were piled on top of me. I struggled to protect it, even though I didn't know why. Finally, I gave up and threw it across the field. They scrambled up, or at least tried to. We were all in such a knot that it was pretty hard to. Finally, after a few more minutes of scrambling to get free, most of them wanting to get it and claim their spot, but some just aggravated that we were even doing this that would include me, we were all standing up and dusting ourselves off and complaining about the grass stains on our pants.

What were we doing exactly? Playing football, or to be more precise, _trying_ to play football. One problem, we all sucked. And most of us hated it which, once again, included me. The "it" I was referring to was of course the football, and "they" were the opposing team. All my friends and Jason, my bf were on the sidelines cheering me on like a bunch of losers. Oh wait, they _are _a bunch of losers!! Well, that explains that!!

Skipping over to Jason and brushing my black hair back behind my ear, even though it fell right back where it was, I smiled. "Hello, honey pie!! Didja watch me?"

He ruffled my hair. "Yes, _darling_." He rolled his eyes.

I kissed him on his nose lightly. "Awww!!" I squealed girlishly, "I wuv you snookems!!"

He rolled his eyes as usual. "Yes, now, once again, _Will. You. Stop. Calling. Me. That!!" _he exclaimed with gritted teeth.

I pretended to be sad. "You don't like it, sweety-bear?"

"No!"

I grinned and went back to being me. Turning to Jake and Kit. "So, how'd I do?" They cracked up.

"You did… um... great…?" Kit said in between laughs.

I rolled my eyes. "Right. When eggplants dance!!" I scooped my backpack up from the bleachers and slung it over my shoulder. "I gotta go guys. I'll be late; mom wanted me home at two o'clock. Something about a dentist appointment of something, and she hates how long it takes to fill out the forms to let me out of school early. Stupid school system, I mean really, can't you just sign you name and the time you checked out like normal schools do?" I muttered, shrugging my shoulders as I complained.

"But you'll be ditching school!" Kit told me.

I grinned. "Yup!! My mom's cool, she doesn't care about stuff like that."

"Lucky! If my mom caught me ditching school she'd kill me!" Jake exclaimed.

"I know I am!! Yay me!!" then kissed Jason on the nose. "Bye-bye Jasie!!"

He rolled his eyes, but then noticed the bandage around my hand. "Hey, Nick, what happened?"

"Oh… well… I… tripped?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "You tripped?"

I nodded. I didn't really want to tell him about what happened; he'd probably think I was crazy or something!

"So… see ya guys later." I smiled and waved goodbye to my friends.

Walking back home, I looked at the bandage. It was still glowing yellow. That bandage, it almost scared me. It taunted me, told me that I was going crazy. And wasn't I? I mean, I just had a dream where I stabbed myself and Naruto wrapped it up with a bandage. And when I woke, I was wearing the same bandage and it was glowing! If I told anyone that, they'd probably think that I'd cracked. So, I decided to be quiet about it.

Looking up at the sky, I sighed. I still didn't know what had happened last night, and I was wondering if I would ever find out.

_Probably not._

TT You live to bring me down, don't you?

_Yup. _

Anata wa bakamono desu.

_Hey!! Look out!!_

Suddenly, actually taking the "other me's" advice for once, there was a loud honk and the screeching of a car trying to turn, and I spun around to see a bright red Ford pickup heading straight towards me. I stood there for a moment, frozen. I was telling my feet to move, my legs to run, but it was like I was paralyzed from the waist down. So I did the only thing I could think of. I screamed. Then, all of a sudden, everything went black.

When I woke up, I was expecting to feel so sore that I could not move. But I actually felt quite the opposite!! Looking around me, I also expected to be in a hospital room. But, once again, I was wrong.

Beside me lay a rock with a bunch of names carved in them, and even though they were written not in English, but in Japanese, I could surprisingly read them!! However, the rock looked familiar, and I strained myself to try to remember. Suddenly it hit me. The K.I.A. memorial in Naruto!! Wait, I was in Konohagakure again?! But… that was impossible!! Did I look like that girl I was last time when I was here? I checked. But this time my hair wasn't blue… it was blonde! Beside me lay my katana, a bag, and some round red tin box, just like last time!

So, due to the shock of waking up in Naruto for the second time and looking nothing like myself after almost being run over by a Ford pickup, I screamed.

I guess I screamed pretty loud, because as soon as I did three familiar ninjas came running. Yup, you guessed it!! It was Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke!

"Hey, you!! What happened?" Sakura asked.

I just gaped and shook my head slowly, then collapsed on the ground and looked up at the sky. I was back, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Ford… red… pickup… blackout… here!!" I managed to spit out.

"Um… in Japanese, please?" Sakura asked, and I realized that I could understand what they were saying even if they were speaking a language that I wasn't fluent in!! but I can tell people to shut up, say they're stupid, say I'm not, and say they're a fool. Ya, doesn't do much good… and I could reply back to them!! YAY!!

"I was… almost hit by a car… and blacked out… and I was here!! And my hair's not black anymore!! Or blue like last time!! It's freakin' blonde!! I'm too smart to be a blonde!!" but then remembered that Naruto was a blonde and turned to him. "No offense. Didn't mean you're stupid; I just meant… Well… you know… Oh whatever! You know what I mean!"

All three gave me a funny look.

"Hey! You're that girl from yesterday!!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed.

Sakura hit him on the back of the head. "You idiot, does she look anything like her?" and when Naruto pointed to the bandage she hit him over the head again. "That doesn't prove anything!!" she said, "She might have injured her hand too!"

They continued to argue so I sighed and turned to Sasuke. In order to make sure that they didn't find out that Naruto was a TV show in "my" world, I decided to act curious. "So… do they always act like this?"

He nodded then turned away.

_Okay, that went well…_

Haha… very funny…

_You just suck at communicating with people, Sasuke being one of them._

Urusai!!

_Hey!!_

I said shut up!!

_Fine… for now anyways…_

Suddenly a man reading Come-Come walked over, his hair all spiky and sticking straight up. A mask covered the bottom half of his face, and his hitai-ate covered one of his eyes. It was Kakashi!!

"Oh!! Hiya!! Ka-"

_Thought you said you were gonna pretend that you didn't know where the heck you were…_

Right… good idea…

_I try..._

I turned to the three ninjas. "Who's that?" I asked, gesturing to Kakashi.

"Oh, that's our sensei!" Sakura told me, and grabbed my hand, pulling me up from where I sat.

"Kakashi sensei!! Look!!" she cried, waving her arms up in the air wildly. "This girl, she says she's from another world or something!!"

Kakashi looked up from his book. "Perhaps she's just crazy." He said, then went back to reading.

"Hey, old man!! I am _not_ crazy!!" I exclaimed.

_WAAAAAH, KAKASHI CALLED ME CRAZY!!_

No, he called me crazy… not you.

_YAY!! BUT HOW DARE YOU CALL HIM AN "OLD MAN"._

Okay… whatever… you're a Kakashi fan now?

_No, I'm going more for Sasuke, but Kakashi's cute. _

Give it up; he's too old for you.

_Is not!!_

Yes he is, now go away!

_Fine… But I'll be back!!_

"Well then what are you?" Kakashi asked me.

"I'm a girl who almost got run over by a truck when I was in my world or dimension or whatever, and fell unconscious and when I woke up I was here in this world or dimension or whatever you call this place…" I told him, then added, "Oh, and it happened yesterday too!! Except minus the truck part and I had blue hair instead of my normal black hair and this time I have blonde instead of black and last time I cut myself with my katana to prove I was dreaming but I wasn't, so Na- I mean that blonde-haired guy wrapped my hand in a bandage and when I woke up I still had it but it was glowing!! And it was the same color as his hair!!"

They all looked at me like I was crazy, except for Naruto that is. He was grinning. "Ha! I knew you and that blue-haired girl were the same person!! I just knew it!! Told you Sakura!!"

I pointed at Sakura and laughed. "Oh!! You just got burned!!" But when no one was laughing I shut up. "Right… me be quiet now…" I whispered.

"Well, for one thing, if she _is _from another world, where did she get that?" Kakashi asked and pointed to my arm.

I twisted my head to see that around my arm, just below my shoulder, was a leaf village headband. I squealed. "Oh my God!! My own hitai-ate!! And not one of those fakes that you can buy online for twenty cents!! It's a REAL hitai-ate!! Holy jumping jelly beans!!"

"Okay… she's lost her mind…" Sakura said.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow and stared at me like I was the stupidest thing in the world which I can be sometimes… but only sometimes!

"Have not!!" I exclaimed and stuck out my tongue.

"Immature…" I heard Sasuke mumble, which is probably true… But who gives a darn anyway? Certainly not me!

"Ayudasa, baka!!" Shut up, fool I said and burst out laughing. Yay!! I just called Sasuke a fool and told him to shut up!! I've always wanted to do that!!

_You have weird desires…_

Well _you_ wanted Pikachu for Christmas!!

_I know!! He's so adorable!!_

Good point… but I hate the show…

_Then why do you always watch it?_

To look at Pikachu being his adorable little self!!

_See!! Who wouldn't want Pikachu for Christmas?_

Okay!! You win!! This time…

_I know!! I always do. _

Oh shut up!!

"So… you got a name or something?" Kakashi asked.

I nodded. "Nikki, Nikki Samson." I told him, grinning ear to ear. I could probably get used to this place. I mean, how hard could it be, right?


	3. The Secret Revealed! Want Some Ramen?

**DISCLAIMER:** No, I don't own Naruto. Which totally sucks ass, by the way. -runs away and cries-

So after Kakashi got everything straight about me coming from another world and all, he decided that since I _did_ have a hitai-ate, that I should start learning how to be a ninja!! So he put me in Team Seven same team as Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura and assigned Naruto to be my tutor!!

It had been a week and I was still a little freaked, being in Konohagakure for the first time and all, but I had started getting used to it. Naruto had offered me a place to stay, but Sakura insisted that girls should stick together so I ended up living with Sakura. But since I know my way around I visit Naruto a lot.

About my training… Since I'm a complete Naruto fanatic I know like _everything _about the show. Including a whole bunch of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu moves!! I've memorized all the hand signs and taught myself how to do the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu that Sasuke used on Kakashi sensei in one of the first episodes. Naruto even helped me create a little jutsu of my own, but I'm keeping that a secret for now.

I woke up early and decided to stop by Naruto's house to see what he was up to or wake him up and beg him to walk around Konoha with me.

When I reached Naruto's house I snuck inside quietly and crept up to his bed. Leaning down to his sleeping face, I took a deep breath and yelled, "OHAYO, NARUTO-KUN!!"

He jumped and let out a small yelp, then, turning to see that it was just me, he grinned. "Ohayo, Nikki-chan!!" he said, and I smiled back.

Then, putting on my best puppy-dog face, I tugged on his arm. "Naruto-kun, I wanna look around!! Can you come with me!! Please!!"

He continued to grin that cheesy grin of his, and nodded. "Okay, just let me get dressed!!"

I looked down at what I was wearing. It was the same outfit that I had been wearing for the past week. I needed new clothes, so I guess that's one thing on my list.

I then realized that I had forgotten my katana, so I yelled to Naruto, who was in the bathroom changing, "Naruto-kun, I'm going to go stop by my house to get something. Meet me there?"

"Okay!!" he called back, and I was off.

Back at my house, I grabbed my katana and was rushing out went I tripped over something. It was the bag and the red tin that had been with me when I had arrived here. I still hadn't opened them. In fact, I hadn't even noticed them until now… I plopped down right there and grabbed the bag first, feeling like a little kid on Christmas about to open her first present.

Untying the string that held it closed, I reached in. As I pulled out a heap of cloths a grin spread across my face. Now I didn't have to wear the same thing over and over!!

One of my favorite outfits was my Tae-Kwon-Doe outfit. But where was the belt? I shrugged and dug through the rest.

Looking through all of the outfits, there were about twenty, I finally came to a decision on what to wear. I decided that I would wear this cute green kimono-styled top that ended around my upper thighs. I tugs on fishnet stockings and green leg warmers, and some black boots. A check in the mirror, and I reached over to the next item, which happened to be the red tin case.

The lid came off with a small "pop" and I dug inside. There was a stack of things, the first thing being my Tarot cards!! I smiled and sat them down beside me and looked back in. There sat my entire collection of Naruto DVDs. Why I had them, I didn't know. I shrugged and moved on, scooping up the next item. It was my black Tae-Kwon-Doe belt, name on it and everything!! Under that was a picture of my three favorite people from my world: Kit, Jake, and Jason.

"Jason…" I murmured and smiled sadly, my eyes getting foggy.

"Who's Jason?" a voice asked, and I looked up to see Naruto. He was holding a bowl of ramen. Go figure.

I forced a smile. "Oh… just someone…"

"From your old world?"

I nodded.

"Was he special to you?"

I nodded again. Suddenly something wet hit my hand, and I realized I was crying. I wiped them away, but they just kept coming. I laughed halfheartedly, "This is so embarrassing!! I'm sorry, they just won't stop!!"

Naruto squatted down and, taking the sleeve of his shirt, wiped them away.

After they finally stopped completely I looked up at him. "He was my boyfriend… Well, I called him my boyfriend, and he called me his girlfriend, but we never really acted that way. We never kissed, on the lips anyway. Mostly the cheek and nose. I've actually never been kissed, and we hardly went out together unless my friends were there too. So I guess we were just good friends… But… but if that's the case then why did I cry so much? I just… I've always been confused about his and my relationship, but I never had the courage to tell him that." I smiled miserably at Naruto and looked back down, "I'm sorry… Why should I bother you with this? It's none of your business, and I know you don't want to hear it… It's just good to get it off my chest is all…"

Naruto reached out and pushed my chin up so our eyes met. I looked into his eyes and let myself be drawn in by the clear blue color, and all was silent for a moment. Then Naruto spoke.

"Want some ramen?" I fell back anime-style. After I pulled myself up, I chuckled a bit. "What?! Ramen helps everything! And if it makes you feel any better, I've never been kissed either." He shrugged, still offering the ramen. I shook my head no; I was ok. I wasn't really in the mood at the moment, though he had made me feel a bit better.

I stared at him for a moment, just studying his bright blue, sparkling eyes. He looked so serious; it was amazing. I had never seen him so up close like this. My heart began to pound harder and harder, almost so hard that Naruto could probably hear it.

"Yes you have." I pointed out, "You accidentally kissed Sasuke cus some guy knocked you over and you two…" I burst into laughter.

Naruto got one of those irk marks, but then suddenly turned to me, looking confused. "Hey, how did you know that?"

"Um… Well…" I searched my mind for an answer, "Sakura told me?" I told him, hoping that he would believe me and giving him an innocent grin. I wasn't ready to break the news to him that in my world he was only a character in a TV show.

"Sakura…" he muttered angrily.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Wow, Naruto's more gullible than I thought he would be!!" I exclaimed then quickly covered my mouth, realizing that I had just said that out loud.

"What?" Naruto questioned, "You mean Sakura didn't tell you?"

I gave him my most innocent face. "Maybe…"

"Well if Sakura didn't tell you then who did?"

"Um… Ino told me yesterday?" I turned bright red; I wasn't a very good liar, and it was pretty obvious.

"You were training with me all day yesterday."

I laughed nervously. "Okay, I'm busted, aren't I?"

He nodded.

Suddenly I spied something in the corner of my eye. The DVDs.

I grabbed one of them and held it in front of his face. "I knew it by watching this." I looked down, not wanting to see what his expression would be.

Naruto grabbed it from my hand and looked at it. "Um… I can't read this…" he told me, pointing to the summary on the back of the case.. .

"There's a Japanese translation right there." I stated, and pointed to it quickly, still not meeting his eyes.

He read it and when he was done, he read it over again.

"Nikki-chan…" he said softly, and I looked up timidly.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before… you probably hate me now… I'm sorry…" I muttered, tears trying to leak through once again.

A big cheesy grin spread across his face. "This is awesome!! Why _didn't _you tell me this before?! I've got my own TV show?! No way!!"

"I'm sorry…" I said but then realized what he had said. "Wait… you're not mad?"

He shook his head. "No way!! Of course they would make a show about me, being the great ninja that I am!!" he exclaimed.

I laughed and picked up the first one. "Let's watch one!!" I said and popped a disc in the DVD player.

I switched it to a random episode, which happened to be the one where Naruto and Sasuke kissed. When that happened I burst out laughing, and Naruto couldn't help but laugh either.

We watched episodes for hours, but when we reached the one where they were waiting for Kakashi sensei, something amazing happened… and it wasn't about Gaara.

_OMG!! That's amazing!! I thought that nothing was amazing unless it had Gaara in it!!_

Well you thought wrong!! But he's still smexy And yummy!! MMMMM!!

_You are so obsessed._

Well you're obsessed with Sasuke.

_So? That's different!!_

How so?

_He's better than Gaara._

Is not!! Sasuke is seventh on my list!!

_How's your list go?_

1) Gaara

2) Kiba

3) Naruto

4) Naruto

5) Neji

6) Kakashi

7) Sasuke

_Why'd you put Sasuke way at the bottom? And you have Naruto twice!!_

So? I can have Naruto twice if I want to!! He's cute!! Especially when he's wet… It just adds to his cuteness. And he's nice! And as for Sasuke, that's where he belongs, since he's a butthead and all. He's cute, I'll admit, but I've seen cuter… I've even seen cuter _non-_anime boys.

_gasps How dare you!!_

Haha!!

_Oh shut up!!_

Shut up yourself!!

_How about we both just shut up?_

Good idea…

_I know. _

Anyway, like I was saying… they were all waiting for Kakashi sensei, since he was late again, but suddenly something happened that had never happened in the anime, no matter how many times I had watched it. And trust me, that is a lot!!

There was suddenly a scream coming from the sky. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke on the show of course, not the real people rushed over where the scream was coming from and looked up. There was a girl with long blue hair, screaming and twitching, floating down from who-knows-where. I gaped. That was me!! Or… it was what I looked like the first time I was here… at Konoha…


	4. My Future Told! Hands Off Me!

**DISCLAIMER:** No, I don't own Naruto. Which sucks ass, by the way. -runs away and cries-

We watched the whole thing, even the part where I was screaming that I wanted my "Naruto-kun" my pajamas that had Naruto on 'em, which was really embarrassing by the way…

When it was over, I grabbed the remote and fast-forwarded a couple of episodes until I found the one I was looking for.

Okay!! There I was, falling down from the sky again, screaming as usual. Except my hair was blonde instead of blue. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke once again ran over to me, and as it played, I stared in awe. This was what had happened to me!! I turned to Naruto. "Na-na-naruto-kun… do you know what this means??" I asked and he nodded slowly.

A big grin spread across my face and I grabbed the remote. "It means that I can see what happens to me in the future!!" I exclaimed and skipped past a dozen episodes.

Naruto grinned widely as well, when he figured out what I meant. "Me next!! Me next!!" he exclaimed, and I laughed.

I skipped to the part about the Chunin Exams. Or I was, when I saw something. I hit "pause" and looked. As I did, my face flushed red. It was Naruto and I, our faces centimeters apart. In the picture, I was also blushing. Naruto began to blush and I opened my mouth to say something when suddenly the door swung open and I heard a familiar voice call my name.

"Nikki!! Nikki-chan?? Where are you?? Hello??" It was Ino. Ino and I had become good friends, even though half the time all she wanted to do was talk about Sasuke.

_Well who wouldn't want to? He's smexy. _

I wouldn't. Gaara could totally kick his butt.

_What about Naruto? You seem to be getting __really__ close to him. Or, at least that's what it looks like to me._

Shut up!! We're friends!! Besides, who knows when the next time I'm going home will be!! I have to admit, I don't belong here. I could be swept off at any time or place, so I don't want to get involved with anyone.

_You are leaving in exactly 67 days, seven hours, three minutes, and twenty seconds._

...

What?

_That is when you're leaving._

How exactly do you know that?

_I'm like your conscious or something. You know, I know everything about you, everything that's gonna happen to you, when it is gonna happen, where it is going to happen and all that crap._

O.o What. In. Seven. Hells?

_Deal wid it homey. Dats how a gansta's life flows in the 'hood yo. Fo snizzle my izzle bo dizzle. _

TT You are so weird…

_F'sho_

Anyways…

Both Naruto and I scrambled for the remote, but each time or hands touched we would blush and snatch our hands back.

Ino walked in as we continued to try to get the remote, glancing between me, Naruto, and the frozen picture on the TV.

Finally, I decided to just get up and turn it off by hand. As I watched the screen go blank, I sighed and spun around, plastering a forced smile on my face.

"Um, Nikki-chan, was that you and Naruto on TV?" she asked.

I laughed nervously. "No! Of course not!! Why would Naruto and I be on TV?? Hahaha…" Naruto nodded in agreement.

She raised her eyebrows suspiciously, but then shrugged. "Well Choji, Shikamaru, and I were all going out to eat and I was wondering if you wanted to come. They said it was okay. So how 'bout it?"

"Um… I was going to go out and walk around Konoha with Naruto…" I said and turned to the blonde-haired genin, still embarrassed about the whole scenario.

"It's okay!!" Naruto exclaimed, turning pink in the face, also embarrassed. "Go ahead!! I'll see you later!!" he insisted and rubbed the back of his head uneasily.

I nodded and turned back to Ino, feeling a little bit of relief. "Alright. I'll come along!!" I smiled.

But as we walked out, I turned back to Naruto, doubting that he really was okay if I went. And really, something in me didn't want to go either. However, I ignored it and went with Ino anyway, doubting that I should have gone.

So there we were, Choji gorging himself with barbeque, Shikamaru complaining on how this was "such a drag", and Ino talking about how _gorgeous _Sasuke looked.

"Oh my god, doesn't he look so _hot_ when he—"

"No he doesn't, Ino!!" I exclaimed, interrupting Ino. "Listen, we know how 'gorgeous' Sasuke is. You've told us a million times!! Now could we please change the subject??" I asked, growing annoyed with the blonde-haired kunoichi

Ino rolled her eyes. "You're just jealous because Sasuke likes me and not you." She said and crossed her arms.

I sighed and glared at her, looking up from the table where I was resting my head. "Okay, number one: He doesn't like you!! And number two: Even if he did, I wouldn't be the least bit jealous. And why is that? Because he's just a grouchy little asshole with hair that looks like a freaking duck's butt!!" I exclaimed.

Okay, maybe that was a little much, but I was _really _pissed off at her for talking non-stop about Sasuke.

_Excuse me, but did you just insult my Sas-chan?_

Your "Sas-chan"…?

_Yup!! That's his new nickname. Sas for Sasuke and chan for little!!_

TT' you are so weird…

_Yup!! That's me for ya!!_

Whatever…

"So… what was up with you and Naruto? Your faces were both bright red when I came in!!" Ino asked, finally changing the subject.

Choji and Shikamaru looked up, curious about what she was talking about.

My face flushed as I thought about it. "Um… well… I mean… we were just…" I sat there looking at my feet as I tried to think of what to say, all the while tucking my hair behind my ears over and over like I usually did when I was embarrassed.

Ino's mouth dropped open. "Don't tell me that you…!!" She made a gesture with her fingers, which made Shikamaru and Choji's eyes widen.

I looked up in shock and blushed, my face turning positively violet at the thought. "You perv!! It wasn't like that!! I am still a virgin, thank you very much!!" I exclaimed.

"Well then what happened?" Choji asked, his face stuffed with barbeque so that you couldn't really tell what he was saying.

Shikamaru remained silent, but I could tell he was wondering the same thing because his eyes were watching Ino and I intensely.

"Nothing!! It was nothing!!" I insisted, but they didn't buy it. "Guys, I'm serious!! Nothing happened between me and Naruto!!"

"Well then why are you blushing?? Do you like him??" Ino asked.

"No! He's just my friend!! Really." I swore.

It took a little while or a couple hours, which was okay since Choji had to finish his barbeque but I _finally _convinced them.

After barbeque, we all decided to hit the town!!

Our first stop was the weapon store. I needed a couple new kunai and I wanted to get a Windmill Shuriken or two.

Ino grabbed a weapon pouch, Shikamaru just looked around, and Choji stayed entertained in the snacks section. Why there was a snack section in a weapons store, I really do not know.

I grabbed what I needed then went to admire the katanas before I got in line. However, while I was waiting in line, something caught my eye.

It looked a lot like Zabuza's sword, except it was a little smaller than a Windmill Shuriken. It was so shiny and sharp; I just _had _to have it!!

As I was drooling over it, a man that I assumed was the manager approached me.

"You like 'er, huh?" he asked, seeming a bit drunk.

I decided to take caution, but since I really wanted those swords, I went ahead and nodded. "How much for two?" I asked, thinking how awesome I would look with one in each hand, defeating my enemies with a single blow.

"¥150,000 150,000 yen. And that's with a discount since you're so cute. Follow me, they're in the back." He said, and I nodded, following him into a door that read _Storage._

Shuffling though some boxes, he pulled out two of the swords, still wrapped up in that bubble wrap, that I loved to stomp the crap out of. But suddenly he tossed the to the side and leaned over to me. "Hey baby, you're all mine!" his voice slurred as he leaned close to me, his lips puckering.

"Ew!! Get away from me you perv!!" I exclaimed and took a quick step back.

He grinned hungrily and reached out to me, trying to grab me. "Come on baby, just a little taste." He exclaimed.

I unsheathed my katana but, before I had a chance to react, he had knocked it out of my hand and hurled me to the ground with him on top of me, holding me down with one arm. His elbow was digging into my ribs, making it hard to breath, and I felt his mouth press against my lips roughly. I gasped out of shock and fear. The man took advantage of the situation and stuffed his tongue in, moving it around to explore roughly. I was suffocating, and tried my hardest to break out of his grasp. But he held my wrists tight, and I was unable to move. I bit his tongue, figuring it would cause him to release me. It didn't. It just made him angrier. He cursed and stood up, kicking me in the gut.

'Help me, somebody. Please help me!!' I thought, but no one came. And I was stuck, too hurt to get up as he beat me.

"Lousy bitch!" He cursed, and kicked me again. "How dare you, you fucking cunt!!" I grimaced as he moved his leg back to kick me again.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the pain. When nothing happened, I opened my eyes just a tad, though they went wide from what came next.

Shikamaru had kicked him and sent him flying across the store, only the wall finally stopping him. He lay there, unconscious, and I scrambled to get up. Shikamaru stood there, a scowl across his face as he glared at the man. "Bastard," he muttered.

Running over to Shikamaru, I struggled to speak, but I couldn't, for I was still in shock. So I just fell into his arms and cried, and he patiently waited until I had calmed down.

While I was wiping away the tears that littered my face, Ino and Choji ran up, looking first at me collapsed in Shikamaru's arms, and then at the man lying across the room.

"Oh my god Nikki, what happened??" Ino asked, a look of genuine concern on her face.

I opened my mouth and tried to tell her, but the words would not come out, and as I thought about it, I broke into tears again. Shikamaru hugged me tighter and looked at Ino and explained what happened.

Ino gasped and rushed over to me. "Nikki!! Are you okay?? You're still... you know...?"

I nodded, knowing what she was asking me.

After that, we all headed home, Shikamaru walking me back to Sakura's house.

As we walked, we didn't really say anything. We just walked, holding hands. Shikamaru... today he was like a hero to me. No, he _was _a hero. And if he hadn't been there, I don't know what I would have done.

When we reached the house, Sakura answered the door, and when she saw me her face twisted with worry just like Ino's had. "Nikki, are you okay??" she looked at Shikamaru. "What happened to her?"

He told her the same thing he had told Ino, and Sakura exploded. "That asshole!! I swear, if you ever see him again Nikki, you tell me where he is and I will kick his butt!! Cha!!"

I smiled and thanked her when Sakura's mom yelled to Sakura, "Sakura-chan, can you please close the door? It's getting drafty in here!!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and asked me, "You coming in?"

I nodded and replied, "In a moment. I'll be right in."

She nodded back and closed the door softly. I turned to Shikamaru. "Thanks for what you did back there. If you hadn't been there, I don't know what I would have done." I told him, and he shrugged.

"Your welcome. It was no big. Besides, what else was I supposed to do?" he noted.

I smiled. "Guess you're right. See you later?"

He nodded, and as I was about to turn to go inside, he gave me a small peck on the cheek. "Yeah, see you later." He replied and walked away, giving a small wave as he left.

I blushed and went inside and closed the door. My legs collapsed and I fell to the ground and I leaned against the door, grinning to myself.

**A/N: No, she is not falling for Shikamaru. It was just a little friendly peck, and she was kind of embarrassed. That's it. For the record, Shikamaru doesn't like her like that either.**


	5. Ugly Dogs and Grossout Dares!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Naruto, which totally sucks ass, by the way. -runs away and cries-

That night I lay in bed, tossing and turning. It was a fitful night; I would fall asleep and wake up an hour later, unable to get back to my dreams, or nightmares, for that matter. My mind was drifting, thinking about what had happened since I had come here, all the god and bad things. Wow. I didn't think so many things could happen in just a month.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next morning I woke up and lay there, then suddenly remembered that Team 7 had a mission today! Kakashi had told Sakura to tell me, and she did last night after the whole "me being molested" thing had died down. I quickly got dressed, picking out a cute red and black outfit that fit my figure perfectly. I quickly grabbed my katana, Windmill Shuriken, kunai, shuriken, and my new swords that Shikamaru had gotten me after that whole ordeal type thing with that drunken guy… so I got my swords after all! I had to pay him back though, which ended up costing me almost all my money since they were 150,000 yen which is a lot by the way and everything… oh and that was with the "discount" so I'm sure it was a ton more…

Sakura was already awake and eating breakfast, and I joined her then we both rushed out the door. But it turned out that we didn't really have to because like usual…

"YOU'RE LATE!!" Team 7 all exclaimed, including me.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "I know, I know, sorry! A peanut butter sandwich fell on my head from the heavens and almost ate me!" he explained, -though what was the point when no one would believe such an obvious lie?- and pulled out Come-Come Paradise, talking to us as he eagerly flipped through the book.

I looked away from the book, thinking about the other day with that man. It just would not get out of my head. I mean, why me? Why did he have to do that to _me?_ However, I had no time to think about that, so I pushed it to the side and tried to focus on what Kakashi was saying.

"Okay, this is Nikki's first mission, so Nikki, (I looked up) pay attention." I nodded and he continued. "Your mission is to…" he paused, either to add dramatic tension or just to piss us off. "…walk dogs."

"Walk… dogs?" I asked, an anime sweat drop appearing on the back of my head.

He nodded. "Yes. Naruto, you will be walking Big Ben; Sakura, you will be walking Mimi; Sasuke, you will be walking Charles, and Nikki, you will be walking Buddy." He told us.

I nodded. Even though this was a pretty stupid mission, it sounded like I would get an okay dog. Perhaps a cute Golden Retriever! Or maybe an adorable Labrador puppy! I mean, how bad can a dog that's named Buddy be?

We went to go pick up our dogs from the lady who had sent the mission in. Naruto got his first. Big Ben turned out to be a large German Shepard! This would not be good. Sakura got a cute little golden retriever puppy, so I guessed that mine would probably be a lab. Sasuke got a beagle, which reminded me of Shikamaru because it would not really move and all it wanted to do was sleep. I got mine last. As I waited for her to get it, I prayed that it would be cute and obedient.

Turns out it was not. When the lady brought the dog out, you could not really tell that it was a dog. It was scrawny, its breath was wheezy, and clumps of fur were missing off its back and head.

"Here you go darling!" the lady exclaimed as she handed me Buddy's leash. "You take extra-special care of him!"

"Wait… _this is Buddy_?" I asked, still a little shocked that that _thing_ was a dog.

She nodded. "Yup! And he's just a big bundle of fun, aren't you Buddy??" she rubbed her nose against the dog's. I forced a smile and attached the leash to Buddy.

We set out walking around the park, and Kakashi just sat on the bench observing us. Like there was anything to observe! We were walking dogs for God's sake!

Well, maybe it was easier said than done in Naruto's case. Big Ben the German Shepard was running around, pulling Naruto with him. It was a sight to see; Naruto tangled up in the leash, trying to stop Big Ben, all the while getting a face full of dirt and mud. Suddenly Big Ben decided to go after Charles, so he ran faster to catch up with him. Suddenly Charles got spooked and took off, running as fast as his short little legs could carry him. Somehow, Sasuke's foot got caught in the loop on the leash where your hand is supposed to go, and he began getting dragged across the park as well.

By now Sakura and I had stopped to watch this hilarious sight, until Charles and Big Ben got too close, that is. We took off, trying to outrun the two dogs, dragging our dogs with us. But, unfortunately for me I had suddenly decided to become a klutz, and I tripped over a root that littered the park. Buddy managed to get away before the dogs came, but I wasn't so lucky. I got caught in Big Ben's leash along with Naruto, and now we were both being dragged around.

Finally, Kakashi decided to break things up. He jumped in front of the dogs to stop them, but ended up just getting run over by them and us. So, he tried a different tactic. He grabbed the dog's leashes, and pulled them toward him, us along for the ride, getting a mouthful of dirt and worms. Finally the dogs stopped, out of breath. They fell down right then and there and took a snooze, which gave Naruto, Sasuke, and I a chance to get untangled from the leashes. As soon as we were free, Sasuke hit Naruto over the head.

"Dobe, this is all your fault!" he exclaimed.

Kakashi merely chuckled. "Okay guys, you all pass… But just because technically you _did _walk the dogs, even if it was a pathetic excuse of it."

Naruto and I glanced at each other. We were both covered in mud from head to toe, except on our eyes which we had wiped off in order to see. We looked so funny that we both burst out laughing.

The sun set below the trees, casting shadows everywhere. Naruto and I were out around the town, because I had never actually finished my shopping, so Naruto offered to take me. He didn't know about what had happened at the weapons shop, and I didn't really plan to tell him any time soon.

At the ramen bar, Naruto and I were pigging out, having a contest on who could eat the more bowls of ramen in twenty minutes. The winner got to pick the dare, and the loser… well they didn't know what was in store for them, but whatever it was they had to do it in front of all of our friends and people on their teams.

I had started my stopwatch and we gorged ourselves, stuffing mouthful after mouthful of ramen. Finally, the timer went off and we stopped, finishing off the bowl we had been eating. Then we counted…

After counting all the bowls, it turned out that Naruto had won by one bowl. I cursed under my breath as Naruto grinned cheesily.

"Hehe, I win! Believe it!" he exclaimed. I frowned and shook his outstretched hand out in utter defeat.

"You win, dude. Good job Naruto-kun." I said then looked up with puppy-dog eyes, and started pleading that he wouldn't go too hard on me with the dare. "You won't go too far with the dare, will you? Please? Pretty please?" I asked, sticking my lip out as far as it would go.

He smiled and laughed. "Tell you what. I'll let everybody else decide… Besides, I'm no good at this anyway."

So, the next day, Naruto and I gathered up all our friends, which included Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Sasuke, and Sakura. Naruto explained that they had to come up with a dare for Nikki since she lost a bet. As soon as that was out of his mouth, pretty much everyone started shouting out ideas. Suddenly Ino, being the loudmouth that she is, yelled out something so loud people all around the world could probably hear it. "Kiss Kakashi!" she yelled. Everyone stopped yelling out their ideas, and started agreeing with Ino. Everyone except Naruto and I, who had been silent from the start.

My mouth dropped open. "What?!" I exclaimed. "No way in hell!"

Ino smirked. "What? Too scared?" she asked. "Come on! You big chicken! Too much of a baby; you're afraid of one little kiss!" she said then began to chant. "Kiss Kakashi! Kiss Kakashi! Kiss Kakashi!"

Pretty soon, everyone joined in. I threw my hands up in utter defeat. "Okay, okay! I'll do it!" I exclaimed.

"For at least ten seconds!" Ino added, "Tongue is optional."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, like I'm really going to French-Kiss my sensei! You're really funny." I said sarcastically and headed off to look for him, followed by everyone else.

We walked around Konoha until we found him. He was in a bookstore chuckling over a volume of Come-Come Paradise. I took a deep breath. If I was going to do this, I might as well have fun with it. I skipped over to him girlishly like I used to do to Jason and hummed to myself, wagging my fingers at everybody childishly.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" I exclaimed in a singsong voice as I approached the silver-haired jounin.

He looked up from his book. "Hm?" was his only reply.

I took a deep breath. 'Okay, let's get this over with…' I thought.

I stood up on tiptoe in order to reach his lips. For a quick moment, I stood there, not wanting to do this but not wanting to seem like a chicken. But I shrugged it off and gathered up my courage. I pulled down his mask and pressed my lips against his.

'Lets give 'em a show…' I thought and pressed even tighter, wrapping one arm around him, the other knotting its fingers in his hair. I grimaced in disgust. Was it really worth it, just to keep my pride and to prove myself? I glanced over to see the crowd of people that had gathered, and I cursed in my mind.

Finally, the ten seconds was over, though it seemed like a hundred. I broke apart and quickly popped a half a dozen breath mints into my mouth, getting rid of the taste. I was struggling to keep my cool, but the inside of me was screaming. Yeah, remind me never to kiss my sensei again! Totally gross!

Kakashi just stood there, a confused look on his face. I shot a smirk at Ino and wagged my fingers at Kakashi, skipping out of the store.

After I was away from the store, I turned to Ino. "Okay, I did it. Happy now?"

Ino nodded. "Okay, so you're not chicken. Congrats. Oh, and how was it?" she asked, still smirking.

I shrugged, rolling my eyes. "Well, it was much better than my fist kiss, I can say that much." I pointed out.

Of course, only Ino, Sakura, and Shikamaru knew what I meant. Everyone else especially the boys began asking me whom it was with, but I didn't say. Like they really wanted to hear about me being molested…

The next night was full of playing Truth or Dare and random drinking games with beer even though we were underage…. It was hilarious, and a certain person happened to get drunk and began dancing on the table, stripping down to their bra and underwear!

It all started innocently at first…

I was asleep when I heard a knock on the door. Groaning, I looked at the clock. It was twelve o'clock. I switched sides, not feeling like getting up at the moment. The person at the door knocked again, louder this time.

"Nikki-chan, go get the door!" Sakura moaned, grabbing a pillow and covering her head.

Sakura and I share a room, since she has two beds in her room. I rolled my eyes. I was supposed to be the guest! Whatever… but I better be getting paid for this! I slipped on some fuzzy blue slippers and climbed out of bed, walking like a zombie to the door. I slung the door open to see a nervous face bordered by short dark blue hair, like the color of a raven perhaps. I smiled. "Hey Hinata!"

Hinata handed me two envelopes, one had my name and one had Sakura's name scrawled in messy cursive handwriting. "Hello… N-nikki-sa-sama. Um… I-ino's having a p-p-party and she asked me to hand out the invites. Sh-she also wondered if… if you wanted to help her with the d-d-decorations." Hinata stammered.

My face lit up and I took the envelopes gratefully. "Thanks! And you don't have to call me 'sama'. It sounds too formal. Just chan is fine!

Hinata nodded. "Okay Nikki-sama. I mean Nikki-chan!"

"Oh, and when you see Ino tell her I'll be over in a bit. I just have to get dressed and eat and crap like that." I replied, grinning.

Hinata nodded again. "Okay! It's by the Hokage faces. She wanted it outside. See you Nikki! Bye!"

"Bye Hinata! See you later!" I waved as she headed off and then closed the door.

I tossed Sakura's invite on the nightstand then pawed through my clothes for something to wear to the party. It had to be nice, but knowing Ino there would probably be stuff like Strip Poker. So I wanted to wear a lot of layers. But on the other hand, it was hot out, and we would probably be dancing, so I didn't want _too_ many layers. I decided to wear a little black dress that ended right below my booty. I also wore black boots that went up to my knees. On my right hand, I slipped on a black glove that went up to my elbow, and on my left, I wore a fingerless glove that ended at my wrist. I ran a brush through my hair, making sure it was still a little messy in that sexy kind of way and applied my makeup, then admired myself in the mirror. So what if I didn't have any layers on? I was good at poker anyway, and I was in a partying mood. Writing a note to Sakura explaining where I was I took one last look in the mirror. I'm usually not one to brag, but I looked majorly sexy! Party here I come! Suddenly my stomach growled loudly.

Okay... ramen first, party later...


	6. Party Time and Scary Needles!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Naruto. Which sucks ass, by the way. -runs away and cries-

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated. I have currently got back on track with my gaia obsession. -sweatdrops- If you have a gaia, feel free to add me! (XxEmoScissorPiexX). I shall try to update faster, but if I don't, you may eat me. Thank you.**

I arrived at the Hokage faces to see that Ino had done so much! The whole thing was in colors like blue and dark purple, and it looked amazing! There was a DJ and a dance floor! Surrounding it was a bar and tables. There was also a disco ball hanging from one of the trees. You say lame; I say friggin' awesome, man! I looked around for a few moments and grabbed a drink from the bar before spotting Ino.

She was dressed in a jean miniskirt with black leggings and a black tank top with lace trim under a jean jacket. Her hair was up in a messy bun with bits of it falling in her face. She smiled at me and waved. I walked over.

"Ino, everything looks amazing! You look amazing! Wow! This is gonna be so awesome!" I exclaimed and gave her an air kiss. She returned the gesture.

"Thanks! Doesn't it? You look awesome! I wish I could pull that off! You are so lucky!" she told me. I grinned and thanked her.

"Hey, when are the others going to be arriving? And what's the party for?" I asked, only partially caring. A party was a party, after all!

"They should be coming any time soon! And I'm having a party because… I'm having a party! Do I need a reason?"

I laughed. "Guess not!"

Suddenly I heard someone whistle and I spun around. Kiba, who did not have Akamaru with him, Choji, Shikamaru, Hinata, Shino, Sakura, and Sasuke were walking up to us.

"Wow Nikki! You look awesome." Kiba said, looking at me up and down, mostly at my butt, though you could tell by his eyes that he was just messing with me.

I rolled my eyes, downed my drink, and threw my empty cup at him. "Pervert!" I exclaimed while laughing.

Shikamaru was wearing a fishnet top and had his hair down and hanging in his face, looking very nice, but as lazy as ever.

Sasuke had on black pants that were ripped at the knee and a black leather jacket over a black sleeveless top. Man does he look good in leather! His arms were crossed and he was scowling, but at least no one had to drag him here.

Kiba had his hood down and his jacket unzipped. Underneath was a black shirt that showed off his muscle. Shino wasn't wearing his sunglasses, and he actually looked really good without them. His eyes were a pretty dark grey. I wondered why he didn't have them on; he never seemed to take them off. I glanced at Kiba, who seemed pretty close to Shino. Perhaps he had made him? I cocked an eyebrow at the two of them, and they looked confused. I chuckled.

Choji was wearing a navy blue T-shirt, which I think is a good color for him. It makes his look slimmer.

Hinata had on a black tube top that ended just below her breasts, and blue jeans. Her hair was messier than usual, but in a sexy kind of messy. She looked different, and for a second I didn't recognize her. But she looked amazing nonetheless!

Sakura's hair was pinned up except for a bit in the front, which hung down around her face. She had on a flowered spaghetti-strap top on that in my opinion showed way too much cleavage and little jean shorts that showed way too much of her butt. Personally, I thought she was being way too sluttish. But that's just me. I looked around. Where was Naruto? Suddenly I heard a call. "Nikki-chan! Konnichiwa!"

It was Naruto. As soon as I laid eyes on him, my mouth dropped open. He looked amazing, drop-dead gorgeous! He was wearing a black tank, with a fishnet long-sleeved top over it, which looked way hot on him, and jeans, instead of his normal orange jumpsuit pants on. He was not wearing his hitai-ate, which made his hair fall every which way. It may not be all that amazing sounding, and perhaps it was just in the light, but he looked majorly hot!

I sprinted over to him, my heart pounding in my chest as I concealed my nervousness. "Naruto-kun, you look amazing!" I exclaimed, "Like, wow!"

Naruto grinned. "Right back at ya Nikki-chan! Though, I'm sure you dressed yourself. Ino helped me pick something." He rubbed his neck and laughed a bit. I shrugged.

"Help or no help, you still look great!" I thanked him and then noticed that the DJ had just begun a song. It sounded somewhat electronic, and was very upbeat- a perfect party song. I smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him onto the dance floor. "Come on, let's dance!"

We danced for quite a while, and I had to say that for a hyperactive knuckle-headed ninja, he was a pretty good dancer! The sun had set by the time we got tired, and we went to the bar to get a beer.

After grabbing a few per person, we took a seat on the floor, arranging ourselves so we were in a circle. I chugged my first beer waiting for Ino to tell us what we were doing. Ino uttered three words and my mouth stretched into a smile. Some people scooted back a bit, their eyes widening, and some just sat there nodding. It was a dangerous game; you never knew what was going to happen, or what someone would say. The name hovered in the air for a moment, taunting us all as I put away my second beer.

Truth or Dare.

Ino started. She turned to the person on her left: Hinata. "Hinata, truth or dare?" she asked. You could see the evil gleam in her eyes. Hinata shuddered. "If you say truth, I'll be really sad, Hinata-chan." She added, though it sounded like more of a threat then just a statement.

And with that, Hinata took a deep breath and said, aloud, in a bold voice that didn't sound like it belonged to her, "Dare."

Ino's smirk grew into a full-fledged evil grin as she tapped her chin, pretending to think about what she was going to make Hinata do, though anyone could tell that she had already made up her mind. After a minute-long pause, she finally looked up at Hinata. "I dare you... to kiss Naruto for five seconds!"

I downed three more beers.

Both Hinata and Naruto turned a bright red color, and I glared at Ino, though she was too busy to notice me, as she was staring at the two ninjas eagerly. Naruto sat next to me, and I had an urge to knock him out so Hinata couldn't complete the dare, but I didn't. Why I even cared was beyond me. I mean, I knew Hinata liked him, and I was Naruto's friend, so who was I to stand between them? I sighed, which made Naruto turn to look at me. I shook me head and smiled, then gave him an encouraging nudge, though my heart was sinking into my stomach with every second. I drank another beer.

By now, if anyone had been keeping track, I had drank at least six beers. Which isn't very good, due to the fact that I have very low tolerance. I found this out when I was 12 and decided I wanted to try one. Or two... I passed out for like, thirty seconds. But I seemed fine, so I never told my mom. I was feeling a bit dizzy, but I didn't care. Another went down as Hinata leaned closer to Naruto.

Another wave of blushes spread across their faces as they turned away, and I scowled. Couldn't they just get it over with? I mean, really, they didn't have to drag it out forever.

Ino was drumming her fingers on the side of her beer, bored and impatient, it looked like. "Come on! We don't have all night! Just kiss so we can continue!" She snapped, and Hinata jumped a bit, and then nodded.

She leaned closer and closer, her lips centimeters from Naruto's. I growled. 3 centimeters, 2, 1, and... they met. Hinata looked down at the floor while Naruto's eyes stayed wide open, looking around the circle of people, and I held a long growl inside me, it dying in my throat. I looked away, and Naruto seemed to notice, furrowing his eyebrows. I downed another beer as the pulled away. Five seconds? Ha! Seemed more like an hour to me.

Hinata went back to her seat, her cheeks looking like she had pressed them against a hot pan, they were so red. Naruto turned to me for a moment, but I shot him a glare. I didn't feel like talking. It wasn't his fault, and I knew that, but it didn't matter. I just knew that I didn't want him and Hinata kissing anymore.

Naruto turned away from my glare. It had actually been my soft evil glare, not the one that would probably make Satan shiver in fear. Ino continued with the game. "Ok... Naruto, your turn, or you can pass and let someone else ask."

Naruto glanced around the circle, once again at me, and shook his head. "Someone else can go," he said. I chuckled a bit, but no one heard me. He was so easily frightened by me. This could come in handy sometime.

Ino grinned. "Alrighty then, someone else volunteer? Or shall I pick someone?" Everyone glanced at each other, and Ino, who seemed kind of jumpy—getting drunk, are we Ino?—clapped her hands together. How 'bout I pick someone? Um... Let's see..." She scanned the crowd. "I've got it!"

But I didn't get to find out whom it was that she chose, for I passed out. I do remember, though, that my arm landed on a beer bottle when I fell, and it broke, and... well, it didn't feel all that great...

There was a white light shining as I heard someone talking in the distance. What was this? I couldn't see, for my vision was all fuzzy, yet it was still so warm, so… comforting. Was this… heaven? I didn't know. Suddenly my vision cleared up, and I saw that I was in a hospital. I let out a long voosh of air as I realized I had been holding my breath. I looked over to see two people sitting there, their backs turned to me. But I could tell immediately who they were, because there is only one person I know that wears an orange jumpsuit, and there is only one person that I know that wears their hair up on top of their head in a ponytail without it falling down in their face. Naruto and Shikamaru. They weren't talking, just sitting there, and that was when I got an evil thought in my head…

**_Yeah!! That's my girl!! Be evil, it's okay!!_**

Whatever… just shut up you… you… mean-butt head!!

**_Okay, what kind of insult is that??_**

I dunno… but whatever. That's what you are!! Cus I dunno _what _you are!!

**_I would be your conscience type thing…_**

Right… but you do have a name, right?

**_Yup. It's Mayonaka Hina. But according to you it's "mean-butt head"!!_**

Hey!! How come you get an awesomeness Japanese name and I'm stuck with English?

**_Cus I'm more awesomer than you! F'sho homey. _**

Well who asked you anyway?

**_You._**

Good point…

Anyway, like I said, I had an evil idea.

Sticking my index finger in my mouth and swishing the saliva around until in was wetter than wet, I grinned then went to do the other finger. After they were dripping with spit I creeping out of my bed and snuck up behind the two genin and slowly but surely I…

…stuck my fingers in their ears!!

They both popped out of their chairs and flew so high that I thought they would hit the ceiling! I laughed, and when they came back down they both glared at me, but a smile was plastered to their faces all at the same time.

And then Naruto's fell a bit. Not a lot, but it fell enough for me to notice. I plopped down, remembering the whole Truth or Dare thing. My face flushed with anger as I looked at my feet. This kind of seemed to freak Shikamaru out, and he twitched.

"I'm gonna leave..." he informed us. I nodded. Naruto just sat there, looking a little upset and confused.

After he left, I smiled softly at Naruto, secretly and quietly apologizing for glaring at him. He smiled back, looking apologetic as well, which confused me. He had nothing to apologize for.

"Um... Nikki-chan... You okay?" he asked carefully. I nodded. "Are you sure?" he persisted. "Cus you seemed mad yesterday, and I don't really know why..." his voice trailed off.

I giggled. He was so oblivious. I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. It's nothing." I told him, forcing a smile. And it really was ok. I was just being a jealous idiot. Hinata was like, _in love_ with Naruto. And I didn't even know if I liked him like that. She definitely deserved him.

Naruto smiled in relief. "That's good. Cus, when I thought you were mad at me it was kind of scary. You could probably kill me if you wanted to." He laughed a bit. I joined in.

"Perhaps I could. But I never would, so it doesn't matter." I smiled contently and flopped on my side, only to jerk back up again. "Ow! _Shit! _What the fuck?" I looked over at my arm to see it covered in bandages. Bloody bandages to be precise. I twitched, and a wave of pain overtook me. "OOWW! Dammit, that hurts!!" I screamed, tears gathering. Naruto jerked backwards, holding his ears, which were probably hurting from my screams. A nurse ran into the room, hearing my shrieks.

She looked panicked, but when she saw that I was grabbing my arm, she stopped and turned calm. I was too busy to notice as she came over to me. That is until she yelled in my ear. "STOP YELLING!"

I did.

"Now," she started, searching for something in one of her pockets. "Calm down. I've got pain medicine."

I followed her orders. She sounded serious. She pulled the object out and held it out, examining it for a moment. My eyes widened and I prepared myself to run, though the nurse now had a strong grip on my clothes. The object she held was a needle.

"No way lady! I've never been good with people poking sharp things into my skin, and I sure as hell ain't gonna start now!" I exclaimed, scooting away slowly.

She rolled her eyes. "Please, and you call yourself a ninja…" she muttered. "Now stay still, and it won't hurt at all. It just pinches a b…" her voice trailed off, "Ah, hell with it. It's gonna hurt like your arm was just set on fire, so hold your breath or choke someone, preferably not me, or whatever you kids do to stop the pain. You could even scream, but I don't recommend it…"

So, what did I do in response to what that meany-head had said? The only thing I could do: Run away and scream like a crazy maniac all the way to Sakura's house!

No seriously, I did! The people that I ran past and/or knocked down glared at me and looked at me like I was crazy. Probably because I was yelling random things at the top of my lungs. It went something like this:

"Holy sugar bananas! God darn Dutch eggplants! Fudgey, fudgey monkeys! That evil Kyle's Mom is gonna murder me with that evil sticky-needle-thingy-ma-jig filled with who knows what! Help! Holy Coca-Cola chickens!"

Okay, so maybe I was crazy… But who cares? I seriously hate needles!

And thus, I ended up at Sakura's house, laying in bed, watching movies, and eating raspberry sorbet ice cream. Later, Naruto and I went out for ramen, and I trained for a few hours. The End. Until the next chapter, I mean... XD

**And now, a chat with some of our characters!!**

**Me: Yay! Another chapter done! So, Hinata, how'd you like it?**

**Hinata: -blushes-**

**Me: Well, we all know she did!! Of course, Nikki here didn't, I'm sure...**

**Nikki: -scowls- I hate you. I could have gotten killed with that needle!**

**Me: -laughs- But you can't die, silly. You're, like, the main character! The only way I would kill you would to have someone dig out your insides with a rusty old spork, and then later have someone else revive you and have you seek vengeance on your murderer!**

**Nikki: O.o**

**Me:Well, that's it for now! Stay tuned!!**


	7. Here Kitty, Kitty!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Naruto. Which totally sucks ass by the way. -runs away and cries-

**A/N: I really should be doing my project right now, since it's due tomorrow and everything, but, hey, screw that, man. If you're not a man, take no offense. I call everyone that. And dude. I say dude a lot too.**

That morning was probably the worst morning ever. It would have been the second worst night ever, except I slept straight through my hangover. Hallelujah. It was freezing cold, and what's worse was that Team 7 had a mission that morning. Which means that Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun, and I would be sitting out in the cold, waiting for Kakashi-sensei for about an hour or two. Sounds wonderful, right? Yeah, I thought so.

I dug through the closet where I looked for something to wear. There wasn't much to dig through, since Sakura takes up pretty much the whole space. I threw on a pair of cargo pants along with brown boots and an olive green V-neck top, long sleeved due to the weather and braided my blonde hair in a thick braid. I then woke Sakura up. It took a while though…

"Yo, Sakura-chan, wake up." I said, shaking her a bit. She merely turned over. I tried again. "Hey, baka, miss nap time or something? Get up!" She didn't budge. "Sakura-chan!" I screamed. No use, she was as hard as a rock. Geesh, this girl could sleep through a fire alarm, no, make that twenty fire alarms! So I went to my last resort. Grabbing my iPod, which I had discovered had come with me a while ago, I turned it to one of the loudest songs on my iPod: I Will Kill You by Cannibal Corpse. I stuck the earphones in her ears and turned up the volume. Hitting the play button and waiting a few seconds of a semi-quiet intro was all that it took, and she was up with a yell. I cracked up. She merely glared.

After Sakura threw on her clothes we headed out.

I stopped by the ramen bar for breakfast, since I forgot to eat at the house. Plus, that was where we were supposed to meet Kakashi-sensei. He was late as usual.

I wasn't surprised to see Naruto there, already at least ten bowls in front of him. Sasuke was also there, a scowl spread across his face. I could tell he was forced to come here. Sakura didn't care though, and she took a seat next to him, staring wide-eyed and (was that drool?) batting her eyelashes at him.

Naruto and I chatted for a bit, and I tried my hardest to avoid Sasuke. He and I weren't exactly tight, if you know what I mean…

_He hates you._

So? I hate him back. So there! Besides, why do you care Mrs. Mayo... Mayo... Mayonnaise head?!

_It's Mayonaka Hina! But to you, Hina-chan will do, thank you very much._

I rolled my eyes to myself and turned back to Naruto and we continued on our conversation on which was better, knee-length or thigh-length socks, while Sakura tried to carry on a conversation with Sasuke, who looked like he would rather be dead than be here.

Kakashi-sensei arrived about an hour later. "YOU'RE LATE!" we yelled in unison. Kakashi merely grinned, as if you could tell with that mask of his, and waved.

"Sorry, but along the way I saw an old woman getting attacked by purse-snatching dogs, so, being the responsible ninja that I am, I rescued her and carried her to the nearest hospital." He said proudly.

"You liar!" I exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the spiky-haired jounin. "Stop making up dumb-ass stories when you know that we'll know that they aren't true! You stupid old man!"

Okay, so maybe that was going a bit far, but I did that often. Besides, I get grumpy easily in cold weather.

Of course, I could still be my terribly stupid self. I figured out a new method on annoying Kakashi, which you shall find out soon enough, I promise. Luckily Kakashi didn't seem to mind about my little explosion, so we continued on with the mission directions.

Kakashi sat down at the ramen bar and went on to explaining. "Anyway, you will be-"

"PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON LIVED BY THE SEA!" I interrupted. Team 7, Kakashi-sensei, and everyone else nearby sweat dropped. Kakashi cleared his throat and started again.

"You'll be on a search in rescue mission to find a-"

"AND FROLICKED IN THE AUTUMN MIST IN A LAND CALLED HONAH LEE!" I sang, interrupting once again. Sasuke hit me in the back of the head.

"You baka! Whatever you're singing, stop singing it! It's annoying!" he exclaimed and put his hand over my mouth when I opened my mouth to insult that baka. I stuck my tongue out, licking his hand that was still clasped over my mouth, causing him to pull his hand back quickly. I laughed. He cursed. Kakashi shook his head. Everyone else sweat dropped. Finally I let Kakashi carry on with his little announcement-type-thing without any interruptions. From me, that is…

Sensei cleared his throat again. "You will be on a search and rescue mission. You're target: a-"

Suddenly a woman who was getting her ramen screamed, due to the fact that she didn't listen to the man's warning that the bowl was hot, and threw the bowl of ramen up in the air, which landed on Kakashi's head with a splat. Team 7 burst out laughing, except for Sasuke that is. But I could have sworn I saw a small smile creep across his tight, scowling lips. I didn't waste any time pointing this out.

"Sasuke-kun just smiled! He smiled, he smiled, Sasuke-kun smiled!" I sang loudly and off-pitch. Everyone rolled their eyes, used to my sudden outbursts that tended to pop out here and there.

"Did not, baka!" Sasuke protested, a thin blush scattered across his face as he hit me over the head. I rubbed my head, muttering curses under my breath. I seriously hated him sometimes.

After Kakashi shook all of the hot ramen out of his hair, he continued with his announcement. "You will be searching for a-"

But a giant German Shepard that I recognized to be Big Ben tackled him to the ground, interrupting him once more. The woman that the dog belonged to rushed over, calling Big Ben to her. The humongous dog rushed over to her with a big grin on his face, his tongue hanging out of his mouth. The woman had her long brown hair tied up in a messy bun, and I realized that I had never noticed how pretty she was. I had been too busy thinking about how weird Fluffy looked… But hey, that's just me! The woman apologized for the dog, and Kakashi sighed. After the lady left, he took a deep breath and quickly explained.

"You-will-be-search-and-rescueing-a-cat-named-Tora-that-has-wandered-somewhere-into-the-woods-by-Konaha-and-it-is-your-job-to-find-her-so-that-means-no-stupid-business-Nikki-and-Naruto-just-get-the-stupid-cat-and-we're-done-and-if-you-screw-it-up-you-will-all-have-to-start-over-at-the-academy!" he exclaimed, all in one breath. **A/N: If you try to do this, I know it's really easy to say, especially if you're trying to say it fast like Kakashi's doing, but oh well... I'm sorry.**

I applauded. "Wow Kakashi-sensei, if there was an award for Best Lung Capacity, you would totally win!" I exclaimed. "That was amazing!"

Naruto clapped along with me, and we both began to start another fit of giggles, only to be hit on the head by Sasuke and Sakura. Betcha can't guess who hit me… Wow, do I love sarcasm! One of the wonderful joys of the world!

_Yup! It's a girl's best friend! Who doesn't love it?_

Oh, and then there's Mayonnaise Girl… what joys life can bring us! Yeah, right! I crack myself up sometimes. No, actually I do that a lot… Oh well, that's life!

Well, we finally got on with the mission, after a few more interruptions consisting of a man dumping a jar of chocolate pudding on top of Kakashi-sensei's head due to the fact that Kakashi had stolen the man's girlfriend ten years ago (Naruto and I gladly took care of the chocolate pudding!), a bird deciding to take a crap (a really BIG crap mind you) on Kakashi-sensei's shoulder, and an exploding fire hydrant. I laughed, a lot, at Kakashi, which earned me another hit on the head from Mr. Dumb Ass with the funny hairdo. I seriously do hate him sometimes…

Well, we finally left for our mission, though not as funny as the last one we had had. Really all we did was look for 'Tora' and bring her home. Seriously though, who names a cat Tora? It's like what you say to a bull. "Tora, Tora!" Oh, wait that's Toro. WHATEVER! So what if I don't speak Spanish?

Of course, both Naruto and my heads were throbbing due to the fact that we had chased the cat away several times, all ending with getting the crap beaten out of us by either Sasuke or Sakura. It went something like this…

"Okay?" Kakashi said over the headphones that we were all wearing, "Are you in position?"

"Sakura here and ready."

"I'm ready too…" Sasuke said.

"Naruto's ready. Just give me the signal."

"NIKKI-CHAN HERE AND READY TO KICK SOME ASS! HELLS YEAH BITCHES!" I screamed into the headset, causing Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei to yell at me.

After recovering his hearing, Kakashi told us to look out for Tora. We scanned the area, and I spied a movement in the bushes. I told Kakashi-sensei. "Yo, Kaka, I spy with my little eye something that starts with cat." I told him, calling him by his nickname. A kaka is a species of parrots found in New Zealand, and with that hairstyle, he defiantly looks like a parrot! (It also means shit, but don't tell him that!)

"Okay Nikki… go on…" Kakashi said, and I could have sworn I heard a sigh in there somewhere…

I grinned and jumped over to the bushes, but at the same moment, so was Naruto. We collided into each other, our faces inches apart as we hit the ground. I blushed violet red. This was the scene from Naruto to show that we'd seen a while ago. Naruto was blushing as well, if only a bit, and I had a sudden urge to make him blush so hard that he looked like a sunburned lobster. So I leaned up a little and kissed him. On the nose of course…

But I guess I have bad aim when cats are clawing on my head, so I kind of got his cheek. And I don't mean far up by the ear cheek, I mean right next to the lips cheek. Well, this turned out to make both of us blush, and I tried to turn away, but Naruto was still on top of me. I looked at him a bit and cocked an eyebrow, trying to act all cool about the situation when, in reality, I was totally freaking out.

"Um... could you perhaps get off of me?" He blushed even more and nodded, trying to find an un-awkward way to get up. Unfortunately, all ways seemed awkward, and he finally just gave up and rolled over so that he was laying next to me. I giggled a bit. "Thank you!" I said, sounding a bit silly, and sat up as he did the same. I looked over to him to say something, but all words were lost and all I could to was stare. His hair blew a bit around in the wind, and his eyes sparkled a deep dark blue. His skin looked smooth and beautiful. I reached out to touch him, and as skin met skin, my fingers tingled. Electricity.

At that exact moment, something snapped in my brain. I had a sudden urge to... I shook my head. No, I wouldn't. That would be stupid and immature. Think of what it would do to Naruto as a whole show. Ugh. So I turned away from the yellow-haired ninja, which was hard when I wanted to do the opposite so badly. The he spoke. "Hey, Nikki?"

And that was it. I turned back around to look at him and grabbed him by the collar, and jerked his head close to mine. Naruto's eyes went wide for a moment, but then softened after seeing how serious I was. I pulled him closer, gently now, and our lips touched. It was short and soft and light, warm and wet. Perfect. It wasn't even a second it seemed, perhaps not even a millisecond. But I took it all in, making sure I recorded every detail of it. And then, as soon as it happened, it was over. I smiled and stood up, licking my lips contently, and left to go after the cat.

Of course, I beat myself up about it while looking for the stupid feline. I really shouldn't have; I knew that. I mean, we _are_ just friends. I pondered what I was going to do next time I saw him. After five to ten minutes of thinking, I decided that I would just pretend that it never happened.

**A/N: There's been a lot of kissing... -sigh- I'll work on that...**


	8. Journey to the Land of Waves!

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Naruto, which totally sucks ass by the way. -runs away and cries-

After a while, Sakura ended up finding Tora, and we brought her down to the place where you are assigned your missions. The woman was waiting there to receive her cat and then to pay the village for helping her. I felt sorry for the cat, due to the fact that the woman was VERY fat and when she got her cat back, she squeezed the crap out of it. No wonder it ran away!

Our next mission choices included babysitting the Chief Councilor's three-year-old, or helping his wife do the shopping.

Naruto exploded when the Hokage began to tell him the missions. I was pretty angry too. "NO!" he exclaimed, "I want to go on a REAL mission. Not this little kid stuff!"

Well, Iruka-sensei was not too pleased with Naruto's reaction, and he exploded as well. "How dare you!" he yelled at the blonde-haired ninja, "You're just a brand-new genin with no experience! Like everyone else you start with simple missions to develop your skills and yourself!"

"Are you serious? Babysitting is not a mission, it is just a stup-" but he didn't have time to finish, for Kakashi-sensei hit him over the head. I laughed, though of course I made sure Naruto was okay before I did. Sakura and Sasuke merely stared.

"Naruto." The Hokage began, "It seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given. Listen. Many different tasks come into our village every day, from babysitting to assassinations. They are looked over and then labeled A, B, C, or D, depending on their difficulty. If the missions are successful we receive a tip that supports our village." I rolled my eyes, I had heard this all before. Of course, that was because I have seen these episodes over and over. I practically had them memorized. This would be a great tactic for annoying Sasuke and Kakashi… The Hokage continued, "The new genin are given D ranked missions of course-" but then he realized that Naruto was ignoring him and telling Team 7 what kind of ramen he was planning to have today. "Silence!" the Hokage yelled. Kakashi apologized.

"Ug! You always lecture me like you're my grandfather!" exclaimed Naruto, "But I'm not that little kid that used to pull pranks all the time. I'm a ninja now, and I want a ninja mission!"

Kakashi sighed, and the Hokage and Iruka chuckled. Suddenly the Hokage opened his mouth to speak, but I got there first.

"Yay! We get a C-ranked mission!" I ran over to the Hokage and gave him a big hug, then did the same to Iruka-sensei. The Hokage looked surprised and confused, but shrugged it off.

"Yes, you do, since you're so determined. You will be body guards on a journey." The Hokage informed us.

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Who, who? A princess, or some important councilor?"

I put my hands on my hips and thrust out my hips, laughing deeply, something I liked to do randomly just to make people wonder, which they did. The Hokage arched his eyebrows, and I continued. "Nope, just some bridge-builder!" I exclaimed, "Hokage's bringing him in now!"

The man stepped in as Team 7 turned towards the door. "What the-" the man exclaimed and took a swig of his drink, "A bunch of little snot-nosed kids? And you, the short ones with the idiotic looks one your faces; do you really expect to protect me?" he asked. He looked kind of shaggy and pretty ugly, and his breath smelled of alcohol.

Naruto and I laughed. "Who're the short ones with the idiotic looks on their faces?" we asked in unison, looking around, then realizing that it was us. We stood still for a moment, just staring at him, the thought registering slowly in our minds. And then Sakura and Kakashi were holding us back in order to keep us from attacking him.

After Naruto and I calmed down, I walked over to him. "This is Tazuna-san, a master bridge builder from the Land of Waves! He's building a bridge there that will apparently change our world. So, we need to get him there safely, even if it means giving up our own lives. But that won't happen! I just know it!" I exclaimed, "And even if you don't know it yet, he's hiding something from us, so don't let your guard down!" I told them, making extreme hand motions to emphasize what I was saying.

Tazuna looked surprised. "How'd you know who I was? And I'm not hiding anything! What made you think that?" he asked, ready to hit me in the back of the head. By now, I was actually used to people doing that. It in fact seemed really normal now to me… I wonder if that's how Naruto felt…

I shrugged to Tazuna. "Whatever. Let's just do this. I can't believe it! My first C-ranked mission!" I exclaimed, probably a little to loudly, for Tazuna covered up his ears and tried hit me on the back of my head. I stuck my tongue out and ducked away, dodging his attack and scampering over behind Naruto.

When we reached the village, Naruto and I did a little happy dance that I had made up a while ago. It was kind of a mix of the Chicken Dance, the Electric Slide, YMCA, and some of my own stupid moves.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Tazuna exploded. "Hey, am I really supposed to entrust my life in these two bakas? They're jokes!"

"Hey! Never insult a ninja; it's a big mistake! And I'm one of the best ninja out there. One day I'm gonna be Hokage and you'll look up to me! My name's Uzumaki Naruto! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Cha! Believe it!" I added, sticking my tongue out once more at that stupid old geezer.

They both continued to argue for a couple of minutes, until I figured out the joys of duct tape.

Later on, I learned a bit on the Shinobi nations, or at least I pretended I was learning. Of course, I knew this stuff like the back of my hand. Suddenly two ninja burst out from behind us, trapping Kakashi-sensei with their weapons. I panicked. I had totally forgot that that Kakashi had been a substitution jutsu. Grabbing my two new swords, which I had named Lenore and Helena (Lenore had a red ribbon around his handle, Helena had a black one), I prepared myself for battle, trying to conceal the fact that I was frightened and nervous.

They ripped Kakashi-sensei into pieces, and I let out a long, loud scream. "Kakashi-sensei! Holy fudge monkeys! Aaaaaaaaaaaeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiii!" I squealed. Suddenly the two ninja appeared behind Naruto. I spun around. "Naruto-kun!" I exclaimed, but it was too late to do anything. They swung at him, brandishing their weapons, and I knew that it was over. I shut my eyes and collapsed, refusing to open them for anything. I was afraid. The amazingly brave, stupid, hilarious, sarcastic, number-2 hyperactive knuckle-headed ninja was afraid.

I stayed in my feeble position for another moment, until I heard Naruto shout something. "What? But he-! Kakashi-sensei… used the substitution jutsu?!" Naruto exclaimed in an amazed voice. I felt a hand on top of my head and a voice chuckle.

"It's okay Nikki-chan. You can look now." I opened my eyes to see Kakashi-sensei above me smiling. My heart seemed to race, and I blushed, feeling like a little kid hiding from the monster in the closet. I felt so stupid, but at the same time, relieved that it was over and that Kakashi-sensei was okay. I was such an idiot; I should have seen it coming. I mean, I had seen the show a billion times. How could I _not_ remember? I frowned, but didn't think about it long, turning to focus my attention to the others.

He praised Sasuke and Sakura, leaving Naruto to sit there, and jealousy overwhelmed the blonde-haired genin. He was about to tackle Sasuke, when Kakashi stopped him.

"Naruto, those ninja have poison in their claws. Don't move around, or the poison will spread." That was when I noticed the cuts on his hand. After Kakashi-sensei gave Tazuna a lecture about how the bridge builder hadn't bothered to mention that there were ninja after him, and saying that they should cancel the mission, Sakura spoke up.

"We're only genin. We're not ready for these kinds of missions. And I think we should get Naruto-kun to the hospital as soon as possible." She said. Kakashi agreed, but Naruto glared at him and took out a kunai. I gasped when I realized what he was about to do, but realized that it was for the best. Naruto jabbed the kunai into his wound, shocking the rest of Team 7 and Tazuna-san. Naruto groaned and turned, his back to us.

"Why am I so different?" he muttered, "Why do I always… I worked so hard to get here. Pushing myself until it hurt. Anything to get stronger, to reach my dream. I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me. I will not run away, and I will not loose to Sasuke-kun. Upon this wound, I make this pledge. Believe it. Bridge builder, I'll continue this mission and protect you with this kunai knife." Naruto turned, and I approached slowly, giving him a small quick squeeze. He smiled at me, and then turned and smirked to Sasuke and the bridge builder, and I nodded, knowing that it was true. He was a piece of work, that Naruto-kun. "Don't worry, I'll be okay."

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Naruto, that was really cool and all how you took the poison out, but if you loose anymore blood, you'll die…" he told him with a straight face. I had always wondered if that was true, or if he was just trying to mess with him. Naruto's face turned purple, while Kakashi bandaged his hand, noticing that the wound was already starting to heal, wondering if the power was from the Nine-Tailed Fox. But no one else noticed this, for he said nothing. As Kakashi fixed it up, I sat there next to Naruto, making sure he didn't leave my side, trying my hardest to comfort him without making it seem like I pitied him. I didn't want him to think that at all.

The mission the continued, and we were heading off down the road again, our journey nowhere near complete.

**A/N: This one was kinda short, compared to some of the others... this makes me sad. Ah well, this took a while to write cus I was just dying to write about the Land of Waves and Zabuza and Haku. So I had to dig up my Naruto DVDs (cus I never buy the manga anymore, I read online... .") and watch them, then write a bit of what they say, cus it annoys me when I get the lines wrong. But thank you for waiting. I gives you Haku plushies. Cus Haku is adorable! XD**


	9. Goodbyes Are Bologna

**A/N: Hey guys. I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, sorry!! I haven't updated in... forever! Like, since, 10-20-08, apparently. My computer decided to crash on me, and I lost everything. I guess it's my fault. It was a shitty computer, really old. Anyway, I bought a new one, this really pretty silver mac laptop, but whenever I try to log in, safari will fail, and everything will close out. I know, bullshit, right? So know I'm using my brother's computer. Since I lost everything, I have to type it all back up. And I had finished it too... And it was rather lovely. Unfortunately, throughout the past months, I've lost interest in Naruto (Uber-Gasp!!)... Here's how it went: My favorite Naruto couple was SasuNaru, (if you've read my profile, you should know that). Well, after a while, I began to watch House, and developed a new favorite couple... House/Wilson. From there, I ventured to read other slash. Then, one day, while watching the I'm Not Okay music video (MCR), I began to think... Thinking led me to searching... and searching led me to Frerard. And... Waycest. So here I was, drowning in MCR slash, and totally forgetting about my fanfic, now rotting on my computer as all interest dies away. Then, checking my emails (which I try to avoid doing ever since I set it up to send an email every time someone even commented on something on my Facebook... Because of that I receive like, 100+ emails a day), I saw an email that caught my eye: someone had review my story. My fanfiction. My fanfiction!! I had completely forgotten!! So, from there, I strained my brain to try and remember my wonderous ending that I had thought up many months ago. But to no avail. After hours of reading the story over and over, I gave up and resorted to thinking up a new ending, probably one much shorter, as, like I said, I had pretty much lost interest in Naruto (Another Uber-Gasp!!). And so here it is. It's not very good, and I apologize. Sorry for such a long note, and since I've missed so much time: Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and happy any other holidays I've missed that you feel should have been mentioned, but I didn't. Oh, and Happy Birthday to me and everyone else who happened to have a birthday around the time I missed. I love you all.**

There was always so much fog in the land of waves, that you could hardly see anything. The boat we had taken winded quietly though the water, only interrupted once by Naruto. Kakashi and Tazuna discussed who was after him, also why. While he explained, I pretended to pay attention, while really taking out my iPod and listening to Ladies And Gentlemen by Saliva. We arrived at the pier and followed Tazuna, and I danced along to my music, not really thinking about all the dangers we were to face those days to come. That was when we met Zabuza. I glanced around, and suddenly a sword, similar to my own, though much larger, came swooping above our heads. I spied a ninja, an evil look in his eye. Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, leaving Team 7 and the bridge builder shocked. "Well, well…" Kakashi began, "Isn't it Momochi Zabuza, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Naruto began to run up to the jounin, ready to fight and show that he was better than Sasuke, but Kakashi stopped him, and, after pushing the genin back, he placed his hand on his headband that was covering his left eye. I grinned, knowing he was about to reveal the Sharingan. Kakashi glared at the ninja, and ordered Team 7 to Manji formation: protect the bridge builder. We followed orders and brandished our weapons, concealing our fear behind a mask of courage. Kakashi then revealed the Sharingan eye, and I squealed like a fangirl.

"Woot, woot!! Go Kakashi-sensei!! You rock!!" I exclaimed, doing my cool little happy dance again, then explaining to Naruto what Sharingan was.

Zabuza then created water clones, and performed the Hidden Mist Jutsu. I adjusted in my iPod, knowing that the rest of Team 7 could take care of this. Though I still heard Zabuza speaking: "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, artery, kidney, heart. Now, which one shall be my kill point?"

It crept me out, and suddenly Zabuza was behind us, and I let out a loud shriek. Kakashi pushed us away and Kakashi stabbed Zabuza, which turned out to be a water clone. The real Zabuza attacked Kakashi, and he turned to water as well. I cheered as Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza and held a kunai up to the rouge ninja's neck. "Don't move." Kakashi said boldly. "Now it's over."

Suddenly another Zabuza appeared behind him and Naruto yelled out, "Hey, that one's a clone too!!"

Zabuza kicked Kakashi, sending him flying into the water, and I ceased my cheering, and started booing at Zabuza. Naruto joined in. Kakashi realized he was trapped when he noticed how heavy the water was, and Zabuza appeared beside him, standing on the water. "Fool!!" Zabuza exclaimed, and did a couple hand signs, "Water Prison Jutsu!!" Kakashi's eyes widened, and water formed around him into a sphere. Zabuza merely chuckled evilly. "This prison is stronger than steel. I'll take care of you later, but first… the genin."

A water clone Zabuza appeared about two yards away from Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, the bridge builder, and I, and gave his famous 'You can't call squirts like you ninja' speech. I rolled my eyes, until he kicked Naruto, sending him and his headband flying in different directions. "Naruto-kun!!" I exclaimed, and ran over to him. "Are you okay?" I asked. Naruto nodded, wiping a dribble of blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You three!! Listen!! Get the bridge builder and run!!" Kakashi exclaimed from the clutches of the water sphere, "He's using all of his power to keep me in this prison, so he has to use Water Clones to go after you. But the clones can't go far from the body, so if you run far enough he won't be able to chase you!! Now go!!" he ordered, but we refused.

"We've got to do it!!" Sasuke exclaimed, and ran towards Zabuza, throwing as many shuriken as he could. Zabuza blocked them with on stroke of his sword, and caught an attacking Sasuke by the neck, then heaving him back to us. We gasped, and Naruto groaned, staring at his injured hand, remembering his oath of pain, then got up, stumbling, but fell back down. I rushed over and caught him in my arms, though I also fell down. Tears appeared in my eyes, filling up to the brim. I gave him a hug, and whispered something in his ear. "Go get him. I know you can, Naruto-kun." He nodded and got up, running towards Zabuza, despite all the cries from the others telling him to stop. He got tossed back at once, but stood up, gripping something in his hand. It was his headband, Zabuza had taken it during his speech, and I smiled proudly as he put it back on. Sakura yelled at him, but I stood silent, knowing that he truly was a ninja, not just some prankster. Naruto suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, freak with no eyebrows. Record this in your Bingo Book: The ninja that will become Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves never backs down. His name's Uzumaki Naruto." He said boldly. "Hey Sasuke, listen up. I have a plan." He paused, then continued, "Okay guys, let's go wild!!"

Kakashi yelled at him, but they didn't listen, for the bridge builder agreed that they could go save Kakashi-sensei. Zabuza chuckled evilly and talked about the graduation exam. Suddenly he came towards Sasuke, and Sasuke fell to the ground, Zabuza's foot holding him down. Naruto created Shadow clones. "Stop right there!!" he yelled. I cheered. Sasuke struggles to get free before the clones piled under him, and the clones were then thrown off. Naruto hurled a Windmill Shuriken to Sasuke, who caught it and spun around, then hurled it to the real Zabuza. The jounin caught it, but there was another one, and both hands full. So he jumped over it. But the shuriken transformed into Naruto, and Naruto threw a kunai at Zabuza with a yell. The only thing Zabuza could do was to release his other arm from the water prison, freeing Kakashi-sensei. I cheered, and Naruto explained what Sasuke and he did.

Then it was Kakashi-sensei's turn to fight. While he did, since Naruto and I had already seen these episodes, I taught him a song.

"Okay," I began, "It goes like this..." and then I began to sing [very loudly, mind you], "MY BOLOGNA HAS A FIRST NAME; IT'S O-S-C-A-R!! MY BOLOGNA HAS A SECOND NAME; IT'S M-A-Y-E-R!! I LOVE TO EAT IT EVERY DAY AND IF YOU ASK ME WHY I'LL SAY... IT'S CUS OSCAR MAYER HAS A WAY WITH B-O-L-O-G-N-A!!!"

Konoha... It was amazing. This had been my best two months and one week of my life. Thinking that, I suddenly froze up. Sixty-seven days... that was about how long it had been since Mayonnaise Girl had announced when I was going home... And today was that day... I had reached my limit. I turned to him. "Um... Naruto-kun... I... um... goodbye..."

He looked at me and cocked his head like a puppy, confused. "What? What do you mean?" he asked, "You're leaving?"

I nodded. "I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun." I said and collapsed into his arms, hugging him tightly. Part of me didn't want to go, to leave Naruto-kun, to leave all my friends. "But, can I ask you a question?" He nodded, "When's you're birthday?" I asked.

He chuckled a little, probably wondering why I would ask a silly question like that. But he answered anyway. "January 22nd." He told me. I nodded. [By the way, I just made up that up. I don't know his B-day...] "And you?"

"February 1st." I replied, smiling as I realized that we were both under Aquarius in the zodiac, as I remained wrapped up in his arms. He smelled of ramen, and I inhaled the aroma in deeply. "Naruto-kun, can you promise me something?" I asked him, not waiting for an answer. "Never forget me, Mr. 'cus if you do, I'll be pissed. Oh, and say goodbye to everybody for me. Even that baka of a genin, Sasuke." I told him, and couldn't help but giggle. "Be strong. You'll be Hokage. I know it."

"Is that another thing you learned from watching the TV show?" he asked, and I shook my head.

"No, I just know it this time. 'Cus no matter what anyone says, you're an awesome ninja. Believe it!" I told him, and kissed him lightly on the cheek, causing us both to blush. He returned the gesture. But that wasn't enough. I lifted my head up to catch his deep blue eyes, and pressed my lips firmly onto his, needful, passionately. He kissed back just as strong. We released after a while and took a breath, then I collapsed into his warm, comforting arms.

"Thanks Nikki-chan. Without you, I might not have made it this far. You're awesome. I don't see how you do it. You don't even care that I have the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of me. That means a lot. Thanks." But before I had time to respond, Mayonaka Hina, a.k.a. Mayonnaise Girl, began the countdown.

_5... 4... 3... 2... 1..._

And in that last moment, I smiled. I would miss that number-one hyperactive knuckle-headed ninja, and for some reason, I knew he would miss me.

The wind came again and whisked me away, changing me back to how I once was. I reached over to Naruto, who was sitting, frozen, on the ground. I glanced at Sasuke and Sakura, who were watching a frozen Kakashi-sensei battle Zabuza. I walked over to Naruto-kun and whispered something in his ear. "I love you."

And it was true, I thought as I was whisked away to my own world, I did love him. At first I didn't know exactly. But that kiss earlier had confirmed it. I had fallen in love with Uzumaki Naruto.

And as I pondered this, the darkness overwhelmed me, and I blacked out.

I awoke a moment later, feeling dizzy and confused. I was clothed in a black Evanescence T-shirt and a pair of destroyed jeans. They stank of body odor. What had happened to me? Where was I? Everything that had happened in that last couple of month was a blur. I didn't remember any of it...

I glanced around, brushing my black hair out of my face. Wait, had my hair always been black? I was beside a dumpster, and it stank. Wrinkling my nose, I staggered to get up. I recognized this place. It was the alley by my house! Wait, what did my house look like? I couldn't remember... I groaned. What was my name? How old was I? Nikki. 14. Okay, I remembered that. When was my birthday? February 2nd. Good. Where did I live? 6302 River High Avenue. Okay...

I stood up and looked around. Okay, there was the Publix that I always went to go get ice cream when I was depressed [Raspberry Sherbet if you want to know]. And I remembered that my house was around there. I wandered around. God, my head hurt. Suddenly I heard someone's voice. Someone's familiar voice. It made me jump.

"God, I miss Nikki so much. Her and her weird sayings. Holy fudge monkeys, holy dancing Dutch eggplants, holy Coca Cola chickens, they always made me laugh."

I turned and spied a pale-skinned girl with blonde hair and grey eyes, looking up at the sky as she licked a melting grape popsicle. A boy was walking beside her, eating a strawberry popsicle. The boy nodded. "Yeah... I mean, just disappearing like that... it's kind of weird. She never seemed like that kind of person, to just leave her mom like that. And now her mom's in the hospital. How could she take off and leave her mom to suffer in that sort of state? But I guess you never really know someone until it's too late..."

"Jason!! How can you say something like that? It's so untrue!!! You should know Nikki better than that!! Nikki would never leave her mother like that!!" Kit scolded him.

I recognized them. It was Jason and Kit. I jumped up. How could he say that about me? That I would do that on purpose! I would never have left if I knew that that would happen to my mother. I would never hurt her purposely. Never!!! I ran over to that idiot that spoke those stinging words. I had only one impulse: to punch that guy all the way to next year. They turned to see me running up to them. Kit dropped her popsicle in surprise. Jason just stared as I slapped him on the cheek. "You idiot!!" I cried, "If I knew my mother was in the hospital I would still be here!! How could you say that? I thought better of you!! I missed you so much while I was gone, and now that I'm back you repay me with this? I hate you!! I _hate_ you!!" I yelled as all my hatred leaked out. I then turned to Kit. "Thanks. That meant a lot, what you just said."

Kit was shocked. "Nikki...? Oh my god!! It's really you!!" she cried, "God, I can't believe you're back! I was so worried!!" she exclaimed as she gave me a huge friendly hug. I hugged her back, tears of joy falling down my face.

"God, I missed you so much... I wondered if I would ever see you again!!" I exclaimed. "I'm kinda glad I'm back. You don't know how crazy it was where I went." I said and laughed.

"Where were you anyway?" Kit asked, "I mean, you've been missing for almost three months now. We've all been so worried."

I frowned. Where had I been? It was all such a blur; I couldn't remember anything... "I was... um... I was..." Oh god, I couldn't remember anything... I glanced up at her, my bottom lip trembling, "I don't know."

Kit frowned and asked me all the questions that I had asked myself when I arrived. I answered them all correctly. "So... you can remember all that but you can't remember where you've been for the last three months?" she asked. I nodded. "Well then... I don't know what's wrong. Maybe you need to go to the hospital or something..." her voice trailed off.

Jason stood there and I shot a glare at him for no real reason. Of course, he had just insulted me in probably the worst way possible, so of course I wasn't going to get over it just like that. "What are you still doing here?" I snapped, "Go away you retard! You know what? You're the worst boyfriend in the world! Dude, we're over."

Jason nodded [HE NODDED!! AFTER I HAD JUST BROKEN UP WITH HIM!! WHAT AN _IDIOT!!!_] and scurried off like a puppy, his tail tucked between his legs. Shaking my head, I sighed. I never knew I could be so intimidating. I turned back to Kit. "Speaking of hospitals... What hospital is my mother in? Why is she there?"

"Lake View. But what's causing her sickness, the doctors don't know. Some kind of infection, they say. She's having trouble deciding things for herself, simple things like if she wants water or juice. They say that she'll get better though, so..." Kit's voice trailed off.

I smiled. "Well, that's good. Lake View, I mean. It's right down the street." Kit nodded. I glanced around. "Where is it?"

Kit sighed. I was probably worrying the fudge outta her. "It's down this way, follow me."

We walked down the road a bit, passing Publix, Block Busters, Papa Johns, and a magazine store. Something caught my eye. "Kit, hold on!!" She was about four feet in front of me. She paused and turned around to see what I was holding. The cover had a blonde-haired blue-eyed ninja on the cover. The title read Shonen Jump. "Kit... who is this?"

The way she looked at me, I could tell she knew something was wrong with me. She took the magazine slowly from my hands. They trembled. "Nikki, this is Naruto. You know, from your favorite show in the world." I shook my head. I didn't remember. Kit bit her bottom lip. "Forget about seeing your mom. _You_ need to go to the hospital yourself. You might have something like your mom has." She told me. I nodded. My god, I can't believe I couldn't remember anything. It felt awful. Suddenly a voice popped into my head, and it wasn't the normal one.

_Thanks Nikki-chan. Without you, I might not have made it this far. You're awesome. I don't see how you do it. You don't even care that I have the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of me. That means a lot. Thanks._

Nikki... chan? What? Who had said that? The voice sounded familiar. But I couldn't figure out whose it was. I groaned and shook it off. Maybe I hadn't gotten enough sleep last night. Wait, when was the last time I had gotten any sleep? I couldn't remember!! I was on the verge of ripping my hair out, it was so stressful. But it was also frightening. I didn't know what had happened in the last three months. By all I know I could have been abducted by a team of crazy alien scientists, or kidnapped by a psycho killer or something and luckily got away, not before banging my head on the door causing me to forget everything that had happened while I was kidnapped. Thinking about all that freaked me out even more. Who knows, it could happen!

We arrived at the hospital five minutes later, and I explained to the man up front what was going on. He just rolled his eyes and told me to sit and wait. There are two waiting rooms in the hospital. The one for the contagious and the one for the non-contagious [you know, for people who broke a leg or something]. He put me in non-contagious!! I'm sick I tell you!! I mean, what if what I had _was_ contagious? But whatever. I rolled my eyes and took a seat next to a girl with a hole in her head. No seriously, there was a hole the size of a quarter right in the middle of her forehead. She caught me staring and stuck out her tongue. I returned the gesture. There was a baby screaming in the corner and a girl coughing loudly and constantly across from me.

Peter Pan was playing on the little TV, so I turned my attention to that. I had always loved Peter Pan, along with tons of other Disney movies. But of course, with all the noise, I couldn't hear it... L Thank god for close captioning!! Finally, when, in the movie, Peter Pan was battling Captain Hook in order to save Wendy and the Lost Boys, my name was called. The doctor's name was something along the lines of Yashen Bugado Heleumia James, according to her nametag. She looked Indian, perhaps, with almost clay-colored skin and soft brown eyes. She smiled sweetly and led me to my room, where I had to fill out paperwork and stuff. Then she left for a bit, and I turned on the TV to see the rest of Peter Pan.

As soon as the credits were over, the women came back in and told me that she was going to give me something that should help me or something. I wasn't really listening, more just sitting and thinking about how I couldn't remember the last few months. Suddenly she brought out my worst enemy... I let out a squeak, forcing back a loud, really loud, scream. It was a needle. I jumped up from the bed and, as she was fiddling with that darned thing, I made a run for it. Kit met me in the waiting room, and before she had time to ask, I grabbed her hand and made a run for the closest exit. But then I remembered that I wanted to see my mother, to show her that I was okay and that I didn't mean to leave her. So I turned the other way, still dragging Kit, up to the front desk.

"Yo, I was wondering what room Michaela Alice Samson is staying in." I said, stating my mother's whole name. The man at the front desk glanced up for a moment then began to type on the keyboard. Maybe he didn't hear me. I repeated the question. He glanced up again.

"I heard you the first time. Room 837." He told me, "Turn right, then left, then keep going straight." I thanked him and dragged Kit down the hall. I found it quickly, luckily. Really I had totally forgotten the man's directions, so I was just guessing. I'm awesome at guessing sometimes!!

Catching my breath, I paused at the door. I guess I was scared to go in. I mean, what if she's mad at me and doesn't want to see me at all. I kinda deserved it... I took a deep relaxing breath and stepped in. A woman with wavy brown hair and blue eyes lay in a bed covered with machines that were making all kinds of annoying noises. The woman was pale, almost paper-white. She had dark blue circles under her eyes and seemed so frail and sickly. I approached with caution. "Mom...? Mom? Are you... are you awake? Can you hear me?" I reached out a hand to touch her, when someone stopped me. It was that nurse with the long funny name. [Yeah, like you REALLY expect me to remember that whole thing!! Ha!] I shot her an innocent smile, "Hello, nice lady! What brings you to this hospital room?"

She smirked, obviously aggravated with me, "So sorry little girl, but that's not going to work. This room is off limits." She gestured to a sign that hung from the door that I hadn't really taken any notice to when I had entered the room. "No visitors allowed."

I frowned. "Yo, lady! Do you have any idea who I am?" I demanded, placing my hands on my hips and tossing my weight to one side. When she didn't respond, just smirked at me rudely, I continued, "I'm Nikki Samson! I'm her daughter! And I've been missing for three months, therefore I should be able to see my mother."

The nurse rolled her eyes and glanced at her watch. "You've got two minutes. Hurry up." I smiled and thanked her. She rolled her eyes again.

She left and closed the door behind her, but I could tell that she would peek in every couple of seconds, probably to make sure that I wasn't trying to kill her or something. I stuck my tongue out at her, and then turned back to my mother. She looked so frail... so sick... so near death. It almost scared me to look at her. Suddenly a loud beeping noise interrupted my train of thought. Kit and I let out a shriek as nurses and doctors rushed in, pushing me out of the way.

**A/N: Well, is it just me or was that like... really long?? I'm not done yet!! There's one more chapter, 2 if I decide to split it up, cus it seems rather long as well... Whatever, I hope you enjoy it, cus right now, I don't. I just wish I could remember my wonderous ending that I had (and I think I'm spelling wonderous wrong... or is it even a word?? .") Reviews... I like reviews... and if you review, I'll give you Naruto-shaped cookies. Of course, I should give you cookies anyway, as an apology... So... Here's some cookies!! -throws cookies into the air- Or, if you don't like sweets... Celery!! -throws celery in the air- Yay!**


	10. More Goodbyes, and a Few Hellos Too

**A/N: Ok, so, there's going to be... one more chapter after this... unless I decide to fix something and make it an epilogue... Anyway, it's not every good, and I don't really like how un-hyper Nikki is, but... she'll get better... I promise (ish). Well, here is the suckish chapter anyway!**

I cried on that cold, dark night outside the hospital. There I sat on a lonely bench, alone, as I mourned over my horrid, tragic loss. My heart broke that night, and I wondered if it could ever be fixed. For I had lost someone precious to me, my own mother, the woman whom without I would have never been born. They had found out what was wrong with her. She had an infection from a cut she had accidentally made from a bra hook. A _bra hook. _I couldn't believe how stupid some doctors could be sometimes...

As I sat there, I remembered all the times that she had been there for me. Like at my sixth-grade play of a Midsummer Night's Dream. There was only one boy in the class, so I had to play a boy... But I was brilliant, if I do say so myself. Anyway, Jason was the only guy in the class, and he was to play Flute, whom in the play within a play, must play the role of Thisby. Thisby is a woman, so we made him put on lipstick, wear a frilly, lacy dress, and stuff toilet paper down his shirt. He did a hilarious job, speaking in such a squeaky voice, it was almost impossible to understand, yet at the same time you knew what he was saying. If that makes any sense at all. I only remember one of his lines, which made everyone explode into laughter, since he totally overacted it: "Asleep, my love? What?! Dead, my dove!!" I guess this was how I felt about my mother. Is she asleep? Wait... she's dead?!! Well, in the end of the play within a play Thisby ends up killing herself over the death of her lover, Pyramus. Of course, I prayed that I wouldn't go that far, but you never know... things happen sometimes...

I cried myself to sleep on the cold bench, so hurt that I was unable to move. One of the nurses, feeling sorry for me, offered me a ride home, but I told her that my father was home and that he was hurrying over. Which wasn't exactly true... I had tried to call him, but he didn't answer, so I gave up. I was actually planning to live on my own. Of course, if anyone found out I'd have to be sent away to Japan, which isn't so bad. But I wanted to be alone, to try and figure out why I couldn't remember three whole months of my life. So I sang.

"Nothing, that's what I see, in this plain world circling me. Empty, where shadows lie, and people bleed from a single eye. Darkness, away we run, since no one's waiting for the return of sun. Black, the color of night, the hidden moon fills us with fright. Truth is no longer here, this world of hate makes our lies clear. Broken, that's what we are, for we can't help it if peace is too far. Waiting for peace restored, but still we remain with the darkened world." I sang the song over and over again, until I fell asleep. And then... I dreamed of blackness.

I awoke with a start, seeing a wall or grey. Wait... where was I? is this... heaven? No, it's too drab and unhappy to be heaven. Is it hell? Why am I in hell? I've been good!! Oh... wait, it's just the bench. I've been sleeping here for ten days now, or maybe more. I've lost count. People walking by pay no attention to the poor girl sitting alone on the bench, grieving the death of her closest family member.

It was night when it happened, when a faint bit of memory returned to me. I was of course sitting on the bench, nibbling on a piece of bread from the pack of Sarah Lee white bread that I had bought at the store. I was running low, I noticed, eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It suddenly began to rain, lightly at first, but then poured down from a bucket in the deep black sky. Perhaps the heavens were crying for me. No, who would cry for a little, pathetic girl? Her mother, yes, but her mother was dead.

As I sat there, embracing the rain, a cold wind picked up, blowing around everything in its path. A magazine hit me smack in the face, but I ignored it, peeling it off on hurling it into a puddle. That is, until a picture caught my eye. That ninja boy, with the blonde hair... Why did he look so familiar? A memory... of that boy smiling down at me... and then... his lips on mine. Who was he? Where were these memories from? I couldn't answer that. I pulled the magazine back up to my bench and looked at the picture, tracing every detail of his 2D face. Us dancing... us laughing... us crying... all of these memories flooded into my head, but no voice to place with it. Why? Why couldn't I remember? I wanted to. The memories brought me a sort of warmth, his face a sort of comfort. Oh, how I wanted to see him, to see the real him. His whole being filled me with a desire to see him, to find him. But how? A voice told me, but yet it was silent. I couldn't hear, but somehow I knew it was there. What was this feeling? Why did I want him? Was it... love? Did I love him?

_Thanks Nikki-chan. Without you, I might not have made it this far. You're awesome. I don't see how you do it. You don't even care that I have the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of me. That means a lot. Thanks._

I needed a name, just one name... just to know his name would fill me with a bit of content, enough content to keep me going for a while longer. I strained my brain until it hurt, collapsing into the cold puddles surrounding my bench, my home. I screamed to the heavens, begging them.

_That means a lot. Thanks._

"Just a name!! Please, give me something!! I want to know!! I want to know!!" I screamed, hurt, angry, alone. Then came the lightning, causing me to jump out of my torn, dirty shoes. God, it hurt so much, this hurt in my heart. I hated this place. "I want my place!! I want peace! Make this pain go away!! Make it go away!" I cursed at the heavens, my voice strained so that it came out as a croak almost. God darn it, I wanted answers. So many questions scattered my mind: Why did my mom have to die? Who is that boy that I feel so many strange emotions for? Where have I been for the last three months? I want answers so bad that I'd almost give up my life for it!!

_Do you really want it that bad?_

I thought about that. Would I really give up my life for a few answers? I lingered, thinking about it. The voice remained in my head.

_Well... do you? I can make it possible... Cus I'm awesome like that._

Joy... she's back. I swear, she gets on my last nerve sometimes... but... if she could do something like that, get me the answers...

_MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY!!_

Um... well... what do I have to lose? My mom's already dead, my father's all the way in Japan, and I'm living on a bench eating soon-to-be moldy bread. So... yes, I guess I want to...

_Alrighty!! Then hhhheeeerrrrrrrreeeeee we go!_

Blackness was what came next, followed my immense pain. My bones cracked, and I felt like some unbearable force was yanking my limbs apart. I whimpered, then let out a long, loud roar. When I woke up, the pain had disappeared, and I felt like new, almost refreshed. But where was I? It looked like a bar, but with... ramen.

Suddenly realizing that I was starving, I scrambled up and rushed over, ordering miso pork ramen. The man smiled when he handed me my ramen, and spoke. "I love your hair, such an interesting color. Is it natural?"

What was he talking about? My hair's black... how is that interesting? I fingered a strand, and was about to tuck it behind my ear when I noticed that it was actually NOT black. Instead, it was green. I began to freak, even more when I noticed that my katana was lying across my back, until a little blue creature flew around my head and landed on my shoulder. It looked a bit like a tiny dragon, except it was furry. It looked up at me with the most gorgeous violet eyes I had ever seen. It was so cute. But still... what the hell was it?

_Nikki, meet Kaori. Kaori, meet Nikki. Okay, now that we're all friends, I'm going to have to get a move on with restoring your memory. You see, the reason you forgot everything about this place is because when you travel to different dimensions it sometimes scrambles up brain cells and crap, and the longer you stay, the more scrambled they become. Of course, you don't really notice until you get home. Sometimes, when you're only there for a few minutes, nothing happens. But if, lets say, you stay there for three months, there are certain side effects that might take place, such as temporary or permanent amnesia, hair loss, and rashes in uncomfortable places. Luckily, you only suffered from temporary amnesia, so I should be able to bring back your memories with a little kick. All you have to do is make physical contact with the object of your desires, located here. To find it, just follow Kaori, cus I don't feel like giving directions. But I will tell you that object's name. It's Uzumaki Naruto and he contains the Nine-Tailed Fox that once terrorized the Village Hidden In The Leaves. Bring back any memories?? Any at all?_

I thought about it. The Nine-Tailed Fox... I'd heard that somewhere. Wait, I remember now.

_Thanks Nikki-chan. Without you, I might not have made it this far. You're awesome. I don't see how you do it. You don't even care that I have the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of me. That means a lot. Thanks._

But where had I heard that? I couldn't remember... I strained my brain until it was about to burst, but still nothing!

Kaori suddenly looked up at me for a moment, then hopped off my shoulder and glided to the ground. "Chikai! [near]!!" she said in a cute little high-pitched voice, then scampered off with me right on her heels, after paying the ramen man and finishing my meal in one long gulp. Suddenly I spotted two men in funny black coats with red cloud-type-things covering them. They wore funny hats, and one of them carried a big sword covered in bandage-like-crap. They seemed to have caught me staring, so I turned away quickly. They gave me a sort of chill, and I didn't like it. They suddenly walked over to me, and I backed up a bit, Kaori ducking behind my legs. One of them spoke.

"You, girl. Have you heard of the Nine-Tailed Fox?" his eyes... they were red, with a black pinwheel-shape in the center.

Something in those horrid eyes told me that I should lie, that he was up to no good. So I shook my head back and forth. "Nope! Never heard of it! Never in the history of history of my life have I ever heard of the Nine-Tail Foxy Thingy-Ma-Jig What-Cha-Ma-Call-It." I blabbed. The man shot out a hand and grabbed my throat.

"I'll repeat myself. Have you heard of the Nine-Tailed Fox?" he said, his voice harsh and grating. I gasped for air and cursed under my breath, nodding quickly. Rats, I was loosing more and more oxygen. His eyes bore into mine, and my heart, out of fear, skipped a beat. "Well, do you know where I can find he who carries it?" he asked, glaring. I nodded, and he released me, causing me to fall to the ground.

I gulped in air, and sighed, rubbing my aching throat. Great... I had faced death right there. "His... his name is Uzumaki Naruto... Um, I don't know where to find him though... I'm sorry." I said, ducking to avoid another surprise attack that he might launch.

The other man started to walk off, and after a moment of shooting a piercing stare at me, the man with the scary eyes did too. I let out a voosh of air, suddenly remembering how to exhale. Kaori was still hiding behind me, but I coaxed her out enough to lead me to wherever we were going.

We arrived at a quaint little house about five minutes later.

My hands were shaking as we approached the small house. I was nervous. I was sad. I was broken. My heart had been ripped out and torn to pieces. I had to find something to cure it, to mend when was confounded. As I turned the knob, Kaori rubbed against my legs, encouraging me to hurry up. Trying to get it over with, I threw the door open. It hit the wall with a bang. I heard a voice.

"Who's there?" It was a boy. The voice sounded familiar, I just couldn't remember. I didn't answer, just pursued deeper into the familiar-yet-unfamiliar house. "Hello? Who's there?" Still, I remained silent, turning corners, and the voice grew louder. "Whatever... I guess I'm just hearing things."

As I rounded another corner, I came face to face with someone recognizable, though I didn't know whom. Was he Naruto? It seemed most likely that yes, he was. I cautiously reached out to touch him, to see if he was real, but he jumped back, his eyes wide, a kunai grasped in his hand. "Who are you?" he asked, trying, yet failing, to hide his edginess.

Once again I didn't answer, just began my way towards him. I wanted to speak, but all of my words were choked up in the back of my throat. He made signs with his hands, so quickly it made me dizzy, and suddenly there were at least 1... 2... 3... 20 of him surrounding me, all grasping kunai knifes. What to do... fight? I had my katana with me, so that was a big possibility.

I thought about my other options and realized that that was probably the best one I had to go on, so I drew my katana swiftly, taking a battle position and brushing away the hair that was hanging in my face, hiding my eyes, and then swiped away some imaginary spit on my lips, I locked onto the blue irises of the boy whom I figured to be the real one, for he had just stumbled back in what seemed to be shock. Recognizing some hidden feeling in my eyes, perhaps? Dang... that's so cheesy!!! Or maybe it's just the fact that I always do that when I'm fighting, be it Tae-Kwon-Doe or just playing around with my katana... I'll go with the second one. I then spoke.

"Are you Naruto?" I asked, though I was already quite sure that yes, he was indeed Uzumaki Naruto. He nodded, confirming my suspicions, and his clones suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

He took a step toward me. "Are... are you... Nikki-chan?" he asked, and I shot him a puzzled look.

"I guess so... My name's Nikki, at least." I replied, choking on my words. Tears were starting to well up in my eyes as I spied the compassion lurking in his stare. Then, without warning, the tears poured out like waterspouts, and my legs started shaking, warning me that at any moment they could give way and I would tumble to the ground. I hadn't cried this much since... never. Even when my mother had died I had managed to choke most of the sobs down. But now...God, it hurt so much just to be around someone that I could hardly remember, yet felt so many deep feelings for, compassion, affection, warmth... love.

Naruto rushed over to me quickly, catching me before my knees completely gave out and I collapsed to the floor. I fell into his outstretched arms, my loud cries dimming down as he wiped some of the wet, salty tears away with the sleeve of his orange jumpsuit. As his fingers made contact with my cheek, memories began to flood in, good and bad, some of Konoha, some of my friends, some of my enemies. And then there was the kiss, my first real, _wanted_ kiss, and it was with him, the boy I felt so much love for. I looked up at the blonde-haired ninja and hesitantly moved my hand to his cheek, stroking it softly. He was real. "Naruto-kun..." I murmured, and his eyes locked into mine, knowing that I was indeed whom he referred to as Nikki-chan, even though I had once again changed my appearance.

'Hina, are you there?' I called in my thoughts.

_Yeah... what, no "Mayonnaise Girl" today?_

'When am I leaving this time?' I asked, ignoring her sarcasm.

_Why? Do you want to leave all of a sudden?_

'No. Never.' I replied, and I could somehow feel a soft smile spread across Hina's face. If she had one, that is...

_Then you're in luck. You're not leaving for another hundred years._

I thanked her silently, then raised my face to his, pressing my lips softly to his mouth. I then smiled and buried my face deep into Naruto's chest, inhaling the sweet scent of ramen that I had missed so much. He wrapped his arms around me, encasing me and stroking my hair. The tears were long gone by now.

Suddenly, as we embraced, the door flung open and the two men from earlier burst in. Having regained my memory, I now knew who the hell they were. I released Naruto and scooped up my sword, glaring at the two Akatsuki members as I pointed my katana angrily at them.

"Itachi and Kisame..." I hissed, "Don't you even think about touching him. You'll have to get through me first." I threatened, blocking Naruto, who was jumping to his feet. Kisame chuckled and grabbed his sword. Great... dudes with big swords were never fun. I had learned that with Zabuza... maybe I should work with my other options: ninjutsu and genjutsu. I still had that secret special awesome jutsu that Naruto had taught me a while ago. I still hadn't revealed it to anyone except Naruto.

Naruto stepped forward, hands at the ready, looking set to fight, but I shook my head and pushed him back gently. This was my battle. He started to protest, but I shot him a pleading glance, which seemed to calm him. He moved back a few steps, getting out of my way.

"Let me handle this one, Itachi. She'll be dead in seconds." Kisame spat, a vicious smirk across his face.

I set my hands in the sign of Tora [the tiger], restoring my chakra. Ah... that felt nice. "You wish... You're the one that's going to be dead, Fishy Face!"

**A/N: Why is it so long??!! It's over 3,000 words!! I tried my hardest to make it shorter, but I couldn't find a good place to stop it at... ^.^; Sorry... Reviews make me happy. Almost as happy as slasher films do! So review, perhaps?? 3**


	11. Enter, Mr Fishy Face and Swirly Eyes!

**A/N: Ok, The epilogue is next, and then, it's done!! Nikki has come back, and she's rather hyper again (ish... ."). Just like the last few, I'm still not happy with it... ."**

"You're the one that's going to be dead, Fishy Face!"

Kisame's mouth twitched at my last comment, an irk mark appearing on his forehead. "What did you call me, you little brat?" he demanded, throwing off the funny hat that he wore, revealing his shark-like face. I struck my tongue out at him.

"I called you Fishy Face. What you gonna do about it?" I asked, signing Hitsuji [the ram], then prepared to transform. "Take this!! Transform!!" I cried, and smoke shot up around me as my illusion worked its magic. When the smoke cleared I looked a lot like Kisame, except I had made his head and lips bigger, added breasts, and enlarged his fish features, which made Naruto crack up. "Look at me!! I'm a stupid Mr. Fishy Face!!" I squealed in an extra-high pitched voice. "Ooooh!! I'm soooooooo pretty!! Look at my boot-i-ful boobies!!" I exclaimed, strutting around stupidly. Kisame glared at me, but made no gesture that he was going to attack. I was going to have to do better. I added a dress, pink, lacey, and fluffy, and began talking in a valet-girl voice, "Like, OH MY GOSH!!!" I teased, "Don't you just LOVE my dress? My name's Kisame, and I'm the prettiest Akatsuki member ever!!"

That did it. Kisame ran at me with his sword. "Shut up, you stupid kid!!" he yelled, and swung. I ducked a bit to my left so he just missed me, sticking my tongue out again, taunting him. Naruto had taught me this when I had first arrived last time. In case you're wondering, it's called 'Tease and Avoid'. Of course, it doesn't do any real damage, but it sure is fun! "Get back here!!" he shouted, swinging his sword once more, only to hit the wall where I had been standing just a moment earlier.

"Haha, you missed me!!" I exclaimed, hopping to the corner where the wall meets the ceiling where he couldn't reach me. I crossed my eyes, and changed with a puff of smoke back to my regular form. "Run, run as fast as you can!! You can't catch me, for I'm Nikki-chan!!" I chanted, tossing a few shuriken at my attacker, which he blocked easily with his sword. "Let's see..." I talked to myself in a loud enough voice so that everyone in the room could hear, "I think one Nikki isn't enough. How about 50!!" I said with an evil smile, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!!" I yelled, creating enough clones to fill the whole room.

Kisame stumbled back a bit in shock, but quickly got over it, swinging at all of my doppelgangers, making them disappear. I quickly created more, having them all attack him while I snuck out into the kitchen to make some ramen. Fighting really made me hungry. Naruto followed, and we snacked on miso pork ramen until I heard Kisame scream, shouting out something like, "Curse that brat, where'd she go??"

I made my appearance quickly, my katana in one hand, a kunai in the other. "What? Ya miss me, Fishy Face? Get ready to face my true power!! Take this! Mi, Hitsuji, Saru, I, Uma, Tora!! [Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger] Fire Style!! Fireball Jutsu!!" I cried, preparing myself for the enormous burst of flame that was supposed to appear, but...

"A smoke ring?! What kind of technique is that? Out of chakra already, I see!!" Kisame chuckled evilly, and I glared, pointing my finger at him angrily.

"Shut up!! I'm working on it!! I can't help if I'm new to this!! But no matter what I'm going to be protecting the future Hokage! And guess what! You're looking at him! Darn straight, you filthy retards! It's Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm here and ready to kick it to anybody that wants to hurt him. Heck yeah!!!!" I declared, but Kisame wasn't exactly paying attention... "Hey!! Fishy Face, pay attention!!" I screeched, and he looked up from his hushed conversation with Itachi. "You're going down, man!!"

Suddenly Kisame charged with his sword. But not at me... at Naruto!! I quickly appeared in front of him. "Dude, no way are you touching my man!! You kill him, and all of America, and everywhere else, will be seriously PISSED with me!! Pissed, I tell you! Therefore, you fight me, or one on else!!" I declared, taking a battle stance. Suddenly, as I braced myself for the hit, the door swung open and I heard a familiar, or at least familiar from the episodes I had seen, voice.

"Jiraiya's here!!" cried a man with white hair, riding a giant toad as he clutched a volume of Come-Come Paradise in his hands. I squealed happily and ran over to him.

"Holy crap!! It's the PERVY SAGE!! Hi, you big pervert!! Oh my gosh, I've always wanted to meet you!! This is soooooooo awesome!!" I shrieked joyfully, squeezing the crap outta the Sanin.

Jiraiya was blushing and beginning to get a nosebleed as I realized that my boobs were kinda smashed against his face... I smacked the snot out of that lecher. "YOU PERVERT!! I'LL KILL YA!!"

"Nikki-chan..." Naruto warned, so I stopped from kicking him and sweatdropped.

"Oops...?" I said, "Sorry Naruto-kun... Right, no beating up your sensei..." I said, then turned back to Kisame. "Hey man, The Toad Sage is here, so you better look out!!" I cried, "Believe it!!" I turned back to Jiraiya, "Okay dude, work your magic!" I told him as I skipped out the door, wanting to get out of this battle so I could gain back all of my chakra. I waved girlishly to Kisame, "Bye-bye Fishy Face!!" I squealed, not noticing Itachi, who was walking out the door after me. I spun around, and my eyes widened out of fear. "Oh great..." I murmured, backing up away from him. "Hello Itachi-sama... nice to meet you..." I stammered, avoiding eye contact with the scary ninja.

Of course, I failed... Fudge monkeys, I am so stupid... and of course, I was pulled into the stupid Sharingan trick thingy-ma-bob. Like I said, NOT fun. It went on for what seemed like three days. So much pain, so much darkness. The only face I saw for three days was Itachi's. I cried. Yes, I cried. Which isn't all that surprising. I mean, I can be a crybaby if I want to. Not that I want to... but still, seeing only Itachi's face for three days really did some damage. I missed Naruto, I missed Konoha, I missed 'em all darn it!! Here's my schedule in that dumb-butt world of dark crap:

1) Wake up

2) Swords in my chest

3) Swords in my legs

4) Swords in my neck

5) Bleed...

6) Bleed some more

7) Cry myself to sleep, if I can sleep at all

8) It starts all over

And that went on for three long days! That's 72 hours that I'm talking about!! How would you like to be stabbed to death for almost 3 days, 24 hours a day!!

I coughed up blood, causing it to spatter all over my already bloodstained outfit. I groaned, wishing I could wipe away the blood dribbling down my cheek. My wrists hurt like crap, held up in metal cuffs, chained to a wall, as were my ankles. Itachi would be coming back any second, so I braced myself for more pain. I mean, it couldn't hurt anymore than it already did.

There he was, that stupid ninja. He drew his sword and plunged it deep into my chest, causing me to scream. Couldn't he just kill me already?! It hurt so much, I hated it. My heart ached, I wanted out. I just couldn't bare it. He smirked, making a long, stinging cut on my leg. I shouted out of pain. "NARUTO-KUN!!!" I screamed. Three long days of this torture, all I really wanted was to see him again. I took a long gasping breath. Today seemed the longest of all the days that I've been through this pain.** (A/N: Damn, I hate this part... It's so... like... LAME!! DD:)**

And suddenly my eyes opened, and I could see the sun again. Naruto was there, opening the door, and I ran over to him, ignoring the blood running down my face and chest. I pulled him into a hug and cried, smothering myself deep in his chest. He stroked my hair as he murmured calming words into my ear. "Nikki-chan... It's okay. It'll be okay." He told me, and I believed him. How could I ever doubt him; I loved him too much. He looked at my wounds, and pointed to his house. "Jiraiya's taking care of that, and he said it won't take long, but..." Naruto trailed off for a moment, then continued, "...but I think he's just showing off."

I turned around a bit to see in Itachi was still there but, surprisingly enough, he wasn't. "I guess Itachi went back in..." I said, "By the way, I'm sorry for making your house a battle station and all that other crap." I told him, laughing nervously, a little embarrassed as I brushed the hair out of my face.

Naruto shrugged, "Whatever. I'm sorry for... a lot of stuff. Like making you kiss Kakashi, having you get attacked by that stupid cat Tora, not being there to protect you when you were being molested, and-"

I interrupted him. "Wait, how'd you find out about that?" I demanded, though I think I already knew the answer. Ino with her big mouth...

"I-i-ino told me." He stammered, confirming my suspicions. I laughed a bit, and Naruto joined in. I guess we weren't exactly being too serious about the fact that the Akatsuki were attacking us. Of course, we had just been reunited about an hour ago, so did we really expect anything less? As I pressed my mouth to his, the answer became clear. I wanted to stay with him forever, no matter what.

**A/N: Can you feel the cheesy-ness???!! Makes me wanna barf!! xD Ah well, this one's much shorter. Everyone be happy! Yay! -throws confetti into the air-**


	12. Epilogue

After the whole ordeal, I decided on something, I realized something. I had known it before, but now it was official: I loved Uzumaki Naruto with all my heart. He was wonderful, though sometimes a bit much. But he was mine, and I wanted to stay with him forever and ever.

And that's what I did. I stuck with Naruto through the good, the bad, and the in-between, I was there. Through thick and thin, dark and light, life and death, I was there. I couldn't see anyone whom I would rather give my life to then him, I loved him so much. If you're wondering what happened to Itachi and Kisame, well, let's just say that they got a beating from the number-one hyperactive knuckle-headed ninja and never really came back. We stopped Orochimaru before he could try to take over the Leaf Village, since I knew it was going to happen.

Years past and Uzumaki Naruto, my Naruto-kun, did indeed become Hokage. Me, I gave up becoming a ninja, knowing that it wasn't the path I was to take. I still do miss my friends and parents, who live all the way in America in some other dimension or world, whatever you want to call it. But now I have new friends, people who love me and care for me. I couldn't ask for anything more. I'm 25 now, and married to the most wonderful man in the world. My name no longer is Nikki Elizabeth Samson, but Uzumaki Nikki, or, according to Naruto, Nikki-chan. And to me, that's what life is all about; being surrounded by the people you know and love, it gives you an amazing and comforting feeling.

I think I've changed a lot since I first met Naruto. At first I was always goofing off and I could never really take things seriously, never taking charge. But now I've grown more serious, and more aware of my surroundings. I'm more responsible, and I pay more attention to detail. I have a lot of people to thank for that, including my closest friend [literally], Mayonaka Hina, who, though can be a real pain in the butt, I know I can trust. I never would have gotten this far as to see Naruto again without her, and, who knows, I could still be living on that bench eating moldy bread. I know now where I belong, and I'm never leaving. I know this now, and it's for certain.

**A/N: And, it's over! Break out the champagne everyone!!**


End file.
